What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
How New Tech Changes Blockchain: Web3 Trends 2025 - Forbes
Dmitry Mishunin founder & CEO at HashEx Blockchain Security.
Every new trend results from technological leaps, which inevitably affect the existing industry. This is true for any industry, but it's especially relevant for Web3, where technologies tend to develop at an incredible pace.
Blockchain used to be a new technology believed to change finances, but now other technologies are changing blockchain. Today, I want to take a look at how these new trends adapt and modify blockchain technology.
AI And BlockchainEqually big, equally popular and equally controversial, AI and blockchain really do have plenty in common. It's not at all surprising that many AI and Web3 cheerleaders are excited about the opportunity to merge the two technologies and see where it goes.
Each camp presents plenty of ideas: Blockchain fans are looking to implement blockchain into AI, and vice versa. There are already several notable projects that harness the power of AI to empower blockchain.
MyShell is one example of this symbiotic development. The company's goal is to build "an open and equitable ecosystem for AI creators." It's a Web3 AI platform that lets creators build AI apps, often bots and agents, that can be used in AI-generated content.
There are many use cases of AI in blockchain, but surprisingly, there are not nearly enough examples of the opposite. Even though the conversation about using blockchain to improve AI security hasn't died down, the implementation of this initiative is still a work in progress.
Scaling And Building Custom ChainsThis is another trend that's taking off. Many projects choose to create custom blockchains to avoid depending on existing ones. There are several reasons for that, and each project makes this choice based on its own ideas. But mainly, new projects aim to avoid eventual scaling, expand decentralization and often minimize dependency on the existing chain and potential changes within it.
This is certainly a positive development, especially in terms of lowering new projects' operational costs while simultaneously accepting the responsibility of running the whole system. It also helps maintain the ideas of decentralization and shake up the system.
The software has moved way beyond simple forks. If you attempt to fork Ethereum today, you have a high chance of drowning in different layers, providers and abstractions.
The solution that many projects choose is to take elements and construct their own chain from them. There are already SaaS companies that deliver these components and help a project integrate them into the chain. It's simple, fast and promising. This is why we can expect a growing number of L2 and L3 solutions among big and small projects alike. In turn, these developments may very well lead to creating new economic models and DeFi.
Real World AssetsThe tokenization of real-world assets has been around for a while. It's certainly an attractive concept, considering that it operates in the intersection between real valuables and digital space. It's in 2024 that the trend suddenly began rapid growth.
According to the report published by CoinGecko, the highest results were shown by USD-pegged assets (99% of all stablecoins), while market capitalization of commodity-backed assets has reached $1.1 billion, with gold remaining in the lead. This can only mean one thing: RWAs are not going to stop. On the contrary, further growth is very likely.
ZK-Proof Based ProjectsIt's unfair to claim that zero-knowledge (ZK) proof is a new concept. However, its popularity is growing, and it's fair to expect that in 2025, the number of such projects will only grow. The idea behind the ZK principle is that cryptographic methods are used to prove a statement without revealing its contents. ZK-proof covers two issues critical for blockchain—privacy and scalability.
Account Abstraction WalletsThis type of wallet has gained attention for its innovative way of managing assets. Simplifying the transactions and cross-chain interactions has always been a big issue for digital wallet users. Instead of keeping all the finances in one place and having easy access to them, users were forced to diversify their savings and find creative ways to reach them when necessary. Account abstraction wallets respond to a very common request, which is why we can expect their growth in 2025.
All in all, there is plenty to expect from 2025. Blockchain technology and new associated developments have a bright future ahead, especially considering new DeFi-centric initiatives that pop up in the headlines. As always, we will have to wait and see which trends really take off and manage to change the way we see the industry.
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2024 Technology Trends For Fast-Growing Organizations
Bobbi is SVP, Software Engineering at Loopio. She is a technology leader with over 25 years of diverse experience in the industry.
It's the start of 2024—a time to reflect on last year, make a few New Year's resolutions and dive into 2024 with a dose of optimism.
It's also time to review innovations and think more broadly about technology trends. With an early view into 2024, it's clear that technology in 2024 will revolve around new advancements (and threats) from artificial intelligence (AI).
Here are four AI-driven trends that fast-growing companies should prepare for in the year ahead.
1. Technology will become more human.We're living in a time of rapid change where computers and software will soon become more human, gaining the ability to see and even hear with advanced speech recognition functionality. This will have a big impact on the way we interact with technology.
It's not only the purely passive interaction of typing in a response, but for the first time in history, we're grappling with the question: How do we design a system that can interpret, see pictures and writing and hear us?
GPT-4 released the revolutionary feature of interpreting images and written text. While this is entertaining and helpful, now is the time to start incorporating this development into how we think about software products and technology solutions. As always, small companies will embrace this trend quickly and we'll soon see some innovative solutions centered around this trend.
2. Focus on security and protect against increasing threats.2023 was the year when the world was transformed by AI—and companies were pushed to adopt AI technology as soon as possible.
The initial euphoria was later tempered by security concerns and potential risks. It didn't take long for people to realize that this new exciting breakthrough comes with heightened security risks, which we're now learning how to navigate.
Security threats are only going to increase as AI technology matures. Companies will become more cognizant of the risks and vulnerabilities associated with AI. We'll start asking more questions about the fidelity of the data that training models use—and soon, even thinking beyond that, we'll be asking about how ethical the collection of this data is.
With the heightened use of AI, social engineering attacks will continue to increase as they have over the years. As mentioned in a CrowdStrike report, 80% of security breaches result from compromised identity. This makes identity protection a critical aspect of cybersecurity and how companies protect against upcoming threats.
What does that mean for fast-growing companies in 2024? We'll see more organizations focused on security and innovative solutions, and small companies will change the way they operate to ensure that their solutions are even more resilient as they appeal to growing customer demands around security.
The security posture for all tech companies will be tested, not only from big enterprises but also from your small commercial customer base.
3. More AI-augmented development will emerge.This trend started in 2023 with the introduction of AI developer efficiency tools like Amazon CodeWhisperer and GitHub Copilot. In 2024, this trend is bound to accelerate further with even more variety and choices.
These tools will be quickly adopted by small companies as they allow them to produce more with fewer resources (and operate faster). These tools aid developers in generating more code, converting legacy code and producing unit and UI tests. GPT-4 has advanced capabilities to help developers generate code, but this will extend even further as some recent articles suggest developer productivity will increase exponentially, driven by this trend.
4. Extended reality will go mainstream.We've been talking about virtual reality and augmented reality for years now. I thought this was the technology that would explode and transform our world, but the hardware aspect took longer to figure out than anticipated. But now, we're seeing a breakthrough trend: Mixed reality, led famously by big brand names like Apple, entering the market to bring this technology mainstream.
What's driven growth in this area? One of the big drivers in the maturity of this tech has been the gaming world. AI will help new game developers join this space as it's still in its infancy, and it provides an opportunity for organizations that can tackle it the right way.
What comes next?So, what's next in the world of tech? The speed of AI innovation is accelerating and will continue to do so in the future. 2024 will be dominated by the four AI and security trends above (and more).
In light of all of these changes, professions are also quickly changing and adapting to this new reality. Engineers and IT professionals, in particular, will be at the center of all of these changes, constantly learning and unlearning at pace with new innovations.
What does that mean for you and your organization? More change at a more rapid pace. Staying current on new trends and technologies becomes a necessity and part of everyone's job as the world around us changes.
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The New Tech Trends Set To Shape The Smart Cities Of Tomorrow
The World Bank estimates that by 2050 the global urban population will double in size, putting ever-increasing pressure on city streets, housing markets, infrastructure, government services, and the environment. Luckily, over the last few years, advancements in the fields of AI, IoT, robotics, and the ongoing deployment of 5G have made the timing ripe for new technological solutions to come to the rescue. In 2023, the global smart cities market was valued at $748.7 billion and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.8% from 2023 to 2030.
These new solutions are set to reshape our urban environments into the glittering "smart cities" that exist in our imaginations — but what will that actually mean in practice?
While we may not be able to predict the future, one place that could give us a glimpse into what's to come is the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre which is set to host this year's HKTDC InnoEX and Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition) on 13-16 April 2024.
These two fairs serve as a global platform for thousands of exhibitors to present the latest in cutting-edge technology and electronics attracting over 80,000 buyers from around 21 countries and regions, making it a meeting point for tech companies, policymakers, academics, and users to discover and exchange ideas.
TNW caught up with some of this year's participants hailing from Hong Kong to Paris to get their take on the biggest trends set to hit the smart city market in the coming years.
The rise of AI and assessing global solutions for local challengesAs a Founder and President of the Smart City Consortium, a platform of corporates, academics, professionals, and government officials, Gary Yeung has had a keen focus on the trends and technologies shaping the smart city market over the past decade. He believes one technology in particular is set to become a catalyst for the next evolution in smart cities.
This is the year of AI. No matter what theme we're talking about, it'll be related to AI development. Last year, we talked a little bit about AI usage but now I can see more and more practical applications and soft landings across different industries.
This technology will support the whole smart city development. As IoT devices collect Big Data, it's AI that allows us to extract answers and develop new applications. It's these new applications that will define smart city development and also provide huge opportunities to different industries.
However, while innovation can bring great things, it also needs to be honed towards responsible applications. That's why for Yeung, the true definition of a smart city is the use of technology to solve sustainable development goals:
Technology is a means for us to do things more efficiently but we need to have more efficient energy solutions to support us, whether it's electric or hydrogen. New innovations require more energy, so we need more efficient data centres, for example, to power them. But we can't just put the responsibility on governments, we also need social impact solutions.
The Smart City Consortium will be hosting a pavilion at HKTDC this year to discuss the biggest challenges smart cities need to tackle, exchange ideas, and promote local businesses.
"HKTDC brings together different government officials from all over the world and we can exchange ideas and also learn more about the situation in each city so that our vendors can consider which areas are best for possible expansion. It gives us a cost-effective way to learn things and explore new markets," Yeung says.
New opportunities for innovation in France's green mobility pushThis year France will also be hosting a pavilion at InnoEX where over 30 French companies will come together with influential tech experts, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and investors to discuss collaborations, share upcoming trends, and exchange insights into future opportunities.
This is part of the country's 10-year relationship with HKTDC which has seen various collaborations and exchanges in smart city development. Most recently, HKTDC Research met with stakeholders across Paris, Nantes, and Lille to learn more about the regulations and initiatives helping push forward France's green mobility development.
In 2019, the country set an ambitious target to achieve carbon neutrality for land transport by 2050 including introducing new regulations to reduce transportation emissions and allocating €2 billion in funding for its Plan Vélo, aimed at doubling the nation's cycle lane network to 100,000 kilometres by 2030.
For Yves le Reun, VP of Sales and Marketing at SuperTooth, this has caused a major shift in the market but also new opportunities for innovation. The company's original product line was focused on providing hands-free Bluetooth devices for cars so commuters could take calls while respecting regulations on the use of cell phones while driving. But with more and more commuters trading in cars for bicycles, they needed to consider what users will need in the new future of urban mobility.
Their new product is an open-ear Bluetooth headphone. As with driving, regulations have banned cyclists from using phones while in motion and more and more local regulations are banning the use of in-ear headphones to prevent accidents.
What's unique about SuperTooth's system is that it's "open ear," meaning it can be mounted onto cyclists' helmets keeping them alert to noises coming from their surrounding environment but allowing them to still take calls, receive notifications, and listen to music.
"This is something completely new on the market, there's not a category for it yet, so it's not something people are aware of or know to search for," le Reun says.
He and his team have been coming to HKTDC since 1996 and will be back again this year to showcase their new product.
We know that lots of buyers from Europe and other parts of the world are going to the show looking for something new. We've decided to come back because we believe the show can help us find possible candidates for distribution across the world.
Innovations for a smarter worldWant to be part of the conversation? This year InnoEX's theme will be "Innovations for a Smarter World" bringing together I&T sectors from across the globe.
Meanwhile, the larger HKTDC electronics fair hosts several thematic zones including the Tech Hall and Start-up Zone showcasing cutting-edge technologies and up-and-coming smart city players.
You can sign up for free for both HKTDC and InnoEX taking place on 13-16 April 2024 here
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