In Summary
The rapid integration of AI into Web3 presents transformative potential and significant challenges, ranging from malicious uses and deepfakes to complex legal liability issues.
AI’s evolution, like the early internet and Bitcoin, will likely be marked by initial abuses, highlighting the need for continuous learning, adaptation, and robust safeguards.
Building trust in AI agents through practical, user-friendly applications and addressing ethical and legal concerns is crucial for responsible and beneficial AI adoption.
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The growing investment in AI agents points to a future of widespread automation, potentially even more transformative than the industrial revolution. As with any technological innovation, AI agents are bound to encounter issues during their development. Continuous improvement will be essential for responsible use and to fully realize the potential of AI agents.
At Consensus Hong Kong, BeInCrypto interviewed Andrei Grachev, Managing Partner at DWF Labs, about the key challenges AI agents face in achieving widespread adoption and what widespread use might look like.
Traditional Tech Industries and Web3 Embrace AI
By this point, it’s safe to say that the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) will soon be unavoidable. Major tech corporations like Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft have announced plans to invest up to $320 billion in AI and data centers by 2025.
In the first week of his term, the former president announced Stargate, a new private venture focused on AI data center development. This venture, involving OpenAI, Softbank, and Oracle, intends to construct up to 20 major AI data centers across the United States.
The initial investment is estimated at $100 billion, and expansion plans could bring the total up to $500 billion by 2029.
Web3 projects are also making similar investments in AI. In December, DWF Labs, a leading crypto venture capital firm, launched a $20 million fund for AI agents to foster innovation in autonomous AI technologies.
Earlier this month, the NEAR Foundation, the organization supporting the NEAR protocol, also announced its own $20 million fund focused on expanding the development of fully autonomous and verifiable agents built on NEAR technology.
“History shows that everything that can be automated will be automated, and definitely some business processes and normal life will be taken over by AI agents,” Grachev told BeInCrypto.
But as AI development accelerates, the potential for its misuse becomes a growing concern.
Malicious Use of AI Agents
In Web3, AI agents have quickly become mainstream. They offer diverse capabilities, from market analysis to automated cryptocurrency trading.
However, their increasing integration also poses significant challenges. The misuse of AI by malicious actors is a major concern, encompassing scenarios from simple phishing campaigns to sophisticated ransomware attacks.
The widespread proliferation of generative AI since late 2022 has fundamentally changed content creation while attracting malicious actors seeking to exploit this technology. This democratization of computing power has enhanced the capabilities of adversaries and may lower the barrier to entry for less sophisticated threat actors.
According to a report by Entrust, digitally forged documents powered by AI tools have now surpassed physical forgeries, with a 244% increase year-over-year in 2024. Meanwhile, deepfakes accounted for 40% of all biometric fraud.
It has been used for scams. It’s used for video calls when impersonating someone else and faking their voice,” Grachev said.
Examples of this type of exploitation have made news headlines. Earlier this month, a finance worker at a multinational firm in Hong Kong was tricked into approving a $25 million payment to scammers using deepfake technology.
The employee joined a video call with individuals he believed to be colleagues, including the company’s CFO. Although initially hesitant, the employee proceeded with the payment after the other participants appeared and sounded authentic, according to reports. It was later discovered that all the participants were deepfake creations.
From Early Adoption to Widespread Acceptance
Grachev believes that such malicious uses are inevitable. He noted that technological development is often accompanied by initial missteps, which diminish as the technology matures. Grachev offered two clear examples to support his point: the early stages of the World Wide Web and Bitcoin.
“We should remember that the Internet started with porn sites. It’s like early Bitcoin, which started with drug dealers and then improved,” he said.
Many reports agree with Grachev. They suggest that the adult entertainment industry played a crucial role in the early adoption and development of the Internet. Besides providing a consumer base, it pioneered technologies such as VCRs, streaming video, virtual reality, and any form of communication.
Pornography has served as an introductory tool. The adult entertainment industry has historically driven consumer adoption of new technologies.
Its early adoption and application of innovations, especially when successfully meeting audience needs, often leads to wider acceptance.
“It starts with fun, but the fun attracted a lot of people. Then you can build something on top of this audience,” Grachev said.
Over time, safeguards were also put in place to limit the frequency and accessibility of adult entertainment. Even so, it remains one of the services the Internet provides today.
Bitcoin’s Journey from the Darknet to Disruption
Bitcoin’s evolution shares similarities with the early use cases of the Internet. Initial Bitcoin adoption was associated with darknet marketplaces and illicit activities, including drug trafficking, fraud, and money laundering. Its anonymity and ease of global money transfers made it appealing to criminals.
Although still used in criminal activities, Bitcoin has found numerous legitimate applications. The blockchain technology underpinning the cryptocurrency offers solutions to real-world problems and disrupts traditional financial systems.
While still very nascent industries, cryptocurrency and blockchain applications will continue to evolve. According to Garchev, the same will happen with the gradual adoption of AI technology. For him, embracing mistakes is necessary to learn and adapt accordingly.
“We should always remember that fraud happens first and then people start to think how to prevent it. Of course it will happen, but it’s a normal process, it’s a learning curve,” Grachev said.
However, knowing that these situations will occur in the future also raises the question of who should be held responsible.
Concerns About Legal Liability
Determining responsibility when harm occurs due to the actions of an agent is a complex legal and ethical issue. The question of how to assign accountability to AI is inevitable.
The complexity of AI systems creates challenges in establishing liability for damages. Their ‘black box’ nature, unpredictable behavior, and continuous learning capabilities make it difficult to apply conventional ideas of who is at fault when something goes wrong.
Furthermore, the involvement of multiple parties in AI development and deployment complicates the assessment of responsibility, making it challenging to pinpoint the fault of AI failures.
Liability could fall on the manufacturer due to design or manufacturing defects, the software developer due to issues with the code, or the user due to failure to follow instructions, install updates, or maintain security.
“I think that everything is too new, and I think we should learn from it. We should be able to stop some AI agents if needed. But from my perspective, if there’s no malicious intention to create it, no one should be responsible because you are doing something really new,” Grachev told BeInCrypto.
However, according to him, these situations need to be carefully managed to avoid impacting continued innovation.
“If you blame this entrepreneur, it will kill innovation because people will be scared. But if it’s not working properly, correct, it may work. We need to have a way to stop it, learn, improve, and learn again,” Grachev added.
However, the fine line remains very delicate, especially in more extreme scenarios.
Addressing the Trust Issue for Responsible AI Adoption
A common fear when discussing the future of artificial intelligence is scenarios where AI agents become more powerful than humans
All information on our website is published in good faith and for general informational purposes only. Any action the reader takes upon the information found on our website is strictly at their own risk, and they should re-evaluate it.There are a lot of movies about this. If we are talking about, let’s say, police or government control, or some army in some war, of course, automation is a big fear. Some things could be automated to such a great extent that they could harm people,” Grachev said.
When asked if such a scenario could happen, Grachev said that, theoretically, it could. Anyway, he admitted that he cannot know what will happen in the future.
However, situations like these are emblematic of fundamental trust issues between humans and artificial intelligence. Grachev believes that the best way to approach this problem is to expose people to use cases where AI can actually be helpful.
“AI may be unbelievable for people. That’s why it should start with something simple, because trust in an AI agent will not be built when someone explains that it is trustworthy. People should get used to using it. For example, if you’re talking about crypto, you can launch a meme, let’s say on Pump.fun, but why not launch it with a voice message? With AI agents, just send a voice message saying ‘please launch this and that,’ and it’s launched. And then the next step [will be] to trust the agent with some more significant decisions,” he said.
Ultimately, the journey towards widespread AI acceptance will undoubtedly be marked by both significant advancements and unforeseen challenges.
Balancing innovation and responsible deployment in this evolving field will be crucial to shaping a future where AI benefits all of humanity.
All information on our website is published in good faith and for general informational purposes only. Any action the reader takes upon the information found on our website is strictly at their own risk, and they should re-evaluate it.
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