This was the prelude to the opening of Jenson Huang's speech at CES. When the CEO of Nvidia starts a presentation by emphasizing the importance of tokens, it is time to listen.
This is how intelligence is made
A new kind offactory generator of tokens the building blocks of AI
Tokens have opened a new frontier the first step into an extraordinary world where endless possibilities are born
Tokens transform words into knowledge and breathe life into images
They turn ideas into videos and help us safely navigate any
environment
Tokens teach robots to move like the Masters inspire new ways to celebrate our victories ("A martini please. Thank you Adam")
And give us peace of mind when we need it most ("Hi moroka. Hi Anna, it's good
to see you again. Hi Emma, we're going to take your blood sample today. Okay don't worry I'm going to be here the whole time")
They bring meaning to numbers to help us better understand the world around us, predict the dangers that surround us and find cures for the threats within us
Tokens can bring our visions to life and restore what we've lost ("Zachary I got my voice back")
They help us move forward one small step at a time and one giant leap together and here is where it all begins
Did you notice the message: tokens are the starting point for everything that we are building. Anything in the digital world is based upon tokens.
Images. Videos. Robots. Counselor. Science. Healthcare.
This is the foundation of the future and Nvidia, along with its partners, is well aware of what is taking place. They are moving ahead at a ferocious pace, accumulating as much data as possible. Systems are being developed on this infrastructure, ensuring they control the feedback loops that are being created.
If you thought social media had massive network effects, just wait until AI scales up.
The Future: Everything Comes Down To Tokens
We have to clarify what we mean by tokens. Those in cryptocurrency will think this applies to Bitcon or Ethereum. This is not the case.
Cryptocurrency took this concept for data science. Tokens are a unit of measure of data. We are accustomed to seeing perhaps an article noting how many words it contains. Some will also look at based upon the number of characters. For example, microblogging often has a limited character window. Exceed that, and the post cannot be made.
This is not what Huang is referring to. In fact, it reverses the entire premise that cryptocurrency operates upon.
Most have the idea of accumulate tokens. How do I get more of ABC token? Of course, the other factor is "price go up". That is all the majority focus upon.
Here we have a completely different scenario.
Token Generation
Huang operates from the viewpoint of generating more tokens. People involved with Web 3.0 need to consider this.
Understanding that tokens equate to data, the goal for each individual should be to generate as many tokens as possible. These are not tradeable and have no direct financial value with regards to markets.
That is not to say, however, these are worthless. Anyone who believes that has not been paying attention to anything technology related over the past few years.
According to Nvidia's presentation, tokens are the foundation for the future. This makes sense. Look at the opening again and you will see this goes far beyond chatbots. That is only the tip of the iceberg.
Our entire physical world will be run by tokens. How can I state this? The fact that robots will be driven by tokens means, eventually, most economic productivity will stem from here. This is the basis for future intellgence, however we opt to define it.
Web 3.0 is focused upon how can I acquire tokens instead of how to generate them.
Decentralized AI
Huang iscatering to his partners. He deals with companies such as xAI, Meta, OpenAI, Amazon, and Salesforce. These are heavy hitters when it comes to power.
They also tend to be poor stewards of data.
If we really want AI to be ethical and transparent, we need a new way. That’s where decentralized AI comes in—a game changer for collecting, managing, and using data ethically and fairly. Centralized systems have been the backbone of AI. Big companies hoard huge amounts of data to train their algorithms, but often with little transparency. This creates big problems. For one, privacy takes a hit.
Think of all those data breaches you’ve heard about—like the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal. These breaches expose the weaknesses of centralized systems and leave users with no control over their own data.
Hence we have a concentration of power within firms that are non-transparent with regards to data it collects.
As AI technologies get more powerful, this has the potential to cause major problems. We have long covered the idea of AI and blockchain. These networks have to potential to alter the path we are presently on.
Decentralized AI turns this on its head. Instead of one entity controlling everything, it distributes power and responsibility across many. Using blockchain, federated learning, and edge computing, decentralized AI gives control back to the people whose data is being used.
There are two options for the future:
A) A small handful of companies control everything, even governments (worse than it is now)
B) Decentralized AI systems, from data to swarms of AI agents, are built on decentralized networks
Apple already has a market capitalization of $3.5 trillion. By the end of this decade, there will be companies that are worth $10 trillion dollars. After that, do not be surprised if we are looking at $20 trillion in the mid 2030s.
How can that happen?
It stems from the fact that technology companies can be in any industry they desire. The ones with the tokens (data) can spin up applications that siphon value away from established entities.
Let us consider healthcare, one thing the presentation alluded to. What is to stop these firms that have the data from providng legitimate healthcare solutions? At this point, they can do some diagnosis but it is minimal (and spotty). The reason for that is a lack of tokens.
We saw the capabilities of these chatbots improve to where people can upload an image of the red area on the foot, information the system uses to provide an answer. Each time this happens, more tokens are handed to whatever company is behind the model.
In other words, more training data is provided, something that will grow over time.
We know the healthcare industry has some huge companies. The reality is, they pale in comparison to Big Tech.
Of course, it is unlikely that Big Tech actually goes this route. The more likely scenario is a startup beings to have some success and one of the major players simply buys it. Immediately they have the algorithms, adding their large datasets.
Either approach is the same: Big Tech getting much bigger.
This is why B is the only realistic solution. People need to start the process of thinking about token generation for Web 3.0 as opposed to simply acquiring more crypto.
If this is understood, then things begin to change. Ironically, it is through token generation (data) that value is added to crypto tokens.
It is what everything is coming down to.