Ai agents are suddenly getting a lot of attention. Unfortunately, like most new things in technology, there is a lot of noise. Cutting through the potential reality as compared to the hype is difficult.
The fact that many are talking about AI agents in optimistic ways often leads to the conclusion that this is all nonsense. A tendency is to look at hype and believe nothing is valid. History shows this can be an incorrect assessment.
Hype is the expected results far outpacing what is realized. This does not mean that we are dealing with something that will not have an effect. Instead, it is commonly a timing factor.
For years, we saw the hype regarding blockchain. Many still feel this is a nothing burger, just crypto cronies trying to pump their favorite token. Certainly, I have spend untold number of articles framing how this is detrimental to the industry.
That said, it does not equate to having no industry. Blockchain is a major part of the future.
Image generated by Ideogram
The Future: Blockchain and AI Agents
When it comes to AI agents, along with blockchain, we do see a lot of hype. AI tokens are the craze. Those who are observant understand we have seen this before.
Like the DeFi and NFT crazes before, the market goes wild. Frequently we come across articles promoting the latest AI coin that is backed by AI that will change the world.
Unfortunately, like the situations before, this usually lacks substance. Here is where cutting through the clutter is crucial.
It all starts with the realistic expectation that most start ups fail. This is the reality of the technology world. Do some research into the success rate of venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. You will find they lose money on most firms they invest in. The success comes from infrequent hits but big money when they are right.
There are many variables in start up success in the technology world. In fact, there is an added component you do not see in many industry: timing.
If we are entering the food industry, it is fairly standard. People always need to eat so satisfying this need is the start to success. With technology, we can have a great idea but the timing is wrong. I often use the example of Webvan. It was an online grocery ordering company that delivered groceries. This emerged during the dotcom era.
It failed completely.
Today, in the United States, we see many major grocery chains offering online ordering and delivery. It is the Webvan idea, 25 years later.
In other words, the concept was sound, the timing was simply off.
We need to remember this when looking at AI startups. There are many paths to failure even if the intention and knowledge is present.
AI Agent Hype - Normalizing
One thing the hype is doing is starting to normalize the idea of AI agents, especially within the crypto community.
Each time we hear of a new AI token, it is another example of something happening. Again, even though 99 initiatives might fail, there will be the one that does succeed. This often multiplies since we tend to live in a copycat world.
As we normalize AI agents, the next question is where will they arise. Here is where blockchain enters.
Over the last few months, there is great pushback against Big Tech and their AI focus. This is not really coming from the userbase, as people are still flocking to Grok and ChatGPT.
Where we see a major difference is with the development. Models are popping up all over the place. Deepseek shook the AI world with its release. Since that time, new models along with updates to other ones have seen things continue to accelerate.
The central theme here is the resistance to centralization. Blockchain, by its nature, is decentralized. While we can harp upon whether a single chain meets this criteria, the fact we have permissionless networks multiplying is the important factor.
Things are still early within this realm. What makes blockchain attractive is the fact we are dealing with open data. The inability to prevent newer entities from accessing the data is paramount.
Preventing Skynet
Many have the concept of "The Terminator" drilled into their heads. It is amazing how pop culture (Hollywood) can influence what we collectively think.
Safety is certainly a worthy AI topic. We are dealing with some very powerful technology. For this reason, blockchain is crucial.
When AI agents are running on closed systems, it is hard to determine what they are doing. Looking "under the hood" is difficult (if not impossible) since companies do not provide access. This means the ability to counter what gets created, if it produces nefarious outcomes, cannot occur.
In other words, we are dependent upon the company taking action. One thing we did learn from the film, companies are slow to react.
When agents are open and operating on blockchains, anything nefarious could be countered. There is likely to be a time when AI agents are negated by other agents. Basically, AI is used to stop ill-designed AI.
Open source is becoming more important. As the power levels of technology ascends, putting it control of a couple companies is dangerous.
Blockchain is a basic component of Skynet-prevention. If there are hundreds of companies producing models, the likelihood of takeover is reduced. It is true that a couple might be dominant with regards to their use. However, they are not monopolizing the entire spectrum.
The next generation of the Internet is AI agents. We are embarking upon the agentic era. Like most things, adoption could be slow, taking a few years to manifest. However, AI coins help people to become familiar with the concept, further pushing innovation.
From a monetary standpoint, based upon history, most will fail. Nevertheless, the overall trend will be to more AI agents being utilized over time.
This will coincide with more being built on blockchain.