There is suddenly a great deal of talk about abundance. This is no longer coming from the futurists but, rather, mainstream technology people. In the last year, people such as Elon Musk, Marc Andreeson, and Sam Altman all discussed this in interviews. There are also many articles floating around on the topic.
What happened and why is this the case? A lot of it revolves around the advancement of artificial intelligence. This is bringing a new element to the discussion, with the extrapolation to where limits are moved much further out.
Obviously, we know automation is enhance things greatly. One of the keys to understand is that automation sends productivity, however that is defined, skyrocketing. This means that a lot more is created in the same period of time.
Actually, that is what we are looking at. It is a time compression technique. For example, a chatbot can research and provide a 200 word answer in a matter of seconds. Think of how long it would take one to read 4 or 5 articles and write 200 words about it. Time was compressed.
This is just one example of how things are changing.
Blockchain, in my view, is going to be at the center of this. This means whatever is built on top of it, i.e. Web3, is going to play an important role in how the future unfolds.
Image from Craiyon
Unlimited Income Opportunities
Let us start from the end and work out way backwards.
Hive is going to provide its users with unlimited income opportunities. As written in the past, income capital is likely to decline over the next decade as the technologies advance. The problem with automation is it tends to come at the expense of jobs. Also, the financial benefit, in the long run, does not favor most workers. It is reserved for the owners, in most instances shareholders.
Here is where replacementopportunities must be offered. It is where Hive can step in.
Do you remember the old concept called "Smart Media Tokens"? This was an idea that was put forth years ago yet never was developed. That said, we do see how this can alter things completely.
What was the design of SMT meant to do? Essentially, it was a way to tokenize communities. One could generate a token for any online group. This could be a website such as Hackernoon or a hobby like basket weaving.
We are well aware of a few solutions being developed that will offer the ability to create something similar. While not restricted to just the characteristics of HIVE, this opens up an enormous door.
What SMTs did was bring the idea of tokenizing the social layer to the table. With this, monetization of social activities is possible. When we look at the typical corporation, we are dealing with debt (bonds) and equity (stock). These are the two investment opportunities. At the same time, for the employees, we have wages.
Here we see a completely different level of monetization. It is likely the value at this layer often exceeds some of the others.
Hive is already starting to offer this.
Network-State
Those who follow the network-state concept that is evolving will fully grasp how Hive is already establishing this.
The analogy to the development of a physical location is applicable since it is the same building process. A population requires certain services for its economy to function.
Here is where the network-state parallels it.
By building a host of services, income opportunities increase. Incentives are provided to utilize what is created, offering individuals more choices. This could means increasing ones social activity, providing infrastructure, or getting involved in gaming. Whatever the area of focus, the buildout moves the entire process further along.
We say these are the early days because there are few services provided, especially on Hive. This is the opportunity presented to everyone. The old saying is "find a hole and fill it". This is what the market presents. We have lots of holes that can be leveraged into enormous wealth generation.
Pick any major city and you will see it did not go from flat land to thriving metropolis in a few years. It took decades (if not centuries) to get where it is. The digital world moves a lot faster but does still require some time.
That said, the economies we are building can reach epic proportions. As stated in the past, we are going to see digital assets get into the quadrillions.
AI and Blockchain
As we move forward, blockchain will have to mesh with AI. There are a number of reasons for this, much tied to the downside.
Blockchain can help to alleviate some of the risks. For example, deep fakes are a potential threat, bringing misinformation to another level. Blockchain can help to negate this since it provides full transparency. Information tied to a public network via a hash will provide a clear path of usage. If a video or image doesn't have this, the validation trail was broken.
It also helps to decentralize the development. A bit part of the equation for these systems, especially the LLMs, is data. The centralized entities such as Facebook and Google have it. Smaller entities do not. Web3 can create its own databases to help offset this problem. We cannot go forward with a Web3 world where all the data is housed on Web 2.0.
Blockchain is distributed ledger technology. It was designed to bring trust to a trustless system. Here we have a system with a process for coming to an agreement (consensus) on what is valid. This is done in a decentralized manner.
So far, it was utilized for cryptocurrency transactions. This, however, can extend much further, to include what AI is creating. How to do monitor what is taking place and generate trust? Blockchain could provide a solution.
Offsetting Fear
For those who follow AI, there is a lot of fear being espoused. Certainly, we have to acknowledge there is a potential downside which means all steps should be taken to alleviate this. Of course, humans, especially those with an agenda like the media, tend to exaggerate what is taking place. We tend to fall victim to the human characteristic of focusing upon the negative as compared to the positive.
It is likely the benefits to humanity that AI offers will far exceed the risks. This is one component that is going to help usher in abundance. Digital assets are the monetization and financial aspect to all of this. Until we reach a post-monetary society (long way off in my view), we are going to see this area excel.
If AI is going to generate massive increases in productivity, then how is that captured? Obviously, the present financial system will only enhance a small portion of the global population. tokenization completely alters this scenario.
It is why I think Hive is so important. We are at the center of this transformation. Again, most fall into the trap of focusing upon the price and market action. Stepping back, we see the opportunity of what a public, decentralized text database offers the world.
A big part of the defense against tyranny is having multiple choices. If we are limited to only a handful of major technology corporations, we are dependent upon them for benevolence. Dictators are not relegated to governments. A powerful corporation can be run in a similar manner, complete with the killing of digital lives.
On Hive, that is not the case. We need to keep expanding upon this concept along with ushering in the moves towards abundance. It is coming and few are prepared for it.
Hive excels on capturing the value created by the social layer. This is the first breakthrough it will offer the world. Once the infrastructure is in place, we can then start to develop the financial services around this.
Nothing operates in isolation. Seeing the bigger pictures offers us a glance into what is possible. The question is whether we will take advantage of it.