AI training consent a ‘perfect use case’ for blockchain — Aptos co-founder

As a researcher who has spent countless hours delving into the intricacies of AI and blockchain, I can’t help but agree with Avery Ching’s perspective at India Blockchain Week 2024. The intersection of these two technologies, particularly in the realm of consent for AI training data, is not only fascinating but also incredibly promising.


As a crypto investor, I firmly believe that granting artificial intelligence models permission to utilize content for training is an ideal scenario where blockchain technology truly shines. This is based on the insights shared by Avery Ching, co-founder and CTO of Aptos.

At India Blockchain Week 2024, Ching underscored the potential of blockchain technology for improving the management of AI model training processes.

He highlighted the potential for blockchain to provide clear consent mechanisms for determining whether specific content can be used for AI training.

How blockchain can improve controls over AI training data

In many areas, Ching noted that AI and blockchain are currently popular terms – the hot topics, if you will. Yet, he underlined that while there’s a lot of excitement surrounding large language models (LLMs), what truly captures his attention is the nature of the data employed in training artificial intelligence systems.

Ching highlighted that incidents such as this one could serve as valuable resources for educating Artificial Intelligence systems. In other words, he pointed out that footage from the event (either video or newspaper reports) could potentially be employed to teach AI.

“There’s going to be a question on whether we want that content to be allowed and whether we want that content to be trained on. So, this is a perfect use case for blockchains because they’re immutable. They provide a center of control.”

According to the co-founder of Aptos, blockchain technology might provide a method to decide if individuals can let AI systems view their content. Ching stated that “it’s an ideal fit” as a backend for handling such information in this context.

Potential application on social media platforms

As a researcher delving into the realm of AI and its applications, I can attest to the scalability hurdles that arise when attempting to implement such control mechanisms on platforms like Facebook, which daily generate billions of content pieces. The integration of blockchain-powered permissions for AI training with each data unit could potentially entail substantial transaction volume and expenses due to the inherent complexity and resource intensity involved.

“If you’re gonna add controls around each of those pieces of data, there’s gonna be a high transaction throughput, there’s gonna be costs involved.”

In spite of the hurdles, Ching indicated that Aptos is persistently engaged in facilitating such applications within its blockchain system. He views blockchain as an organic infrastructure for regulating content usage, especially with the ongoing advancements in artificial intelligence.

Giving artificial intelligence models consent to use content for training is a “perfect use case” for blockchain technology, according to Avery Ching, co-founder and chief technology officer of Aptos.

At the India Blockchain Week 2024, Ching underscored the potential of blockchain technology in improving the way AI models are governed during their training process.

He highlighted the potential for blockchain to provide clear consent mechanisms for determining whether specific content can be used for AI training.

How blockchain can improve controls over AI training data

In various fields, Ching noted that AI and blockchain are often the trendy topics right now. Yet, he emphasized that although there’s a lot of excitement surrounding large language models, what truly captures his attention is the data employed in training AI systems.

Ching pointed out that the occurrence served as an illustration. Specifically, he highlighted that material from the stage, either captured on video or reported in news pieces, could potentially be employed for educating Artificial Intelligence. In simpler terms, he was suggesting that event content could teach AI systems.

“There’s going to be a question on whether we want that content to be allowed and whether we want that content to be trained on. So, this is a perfect use case for blockchains because they’re immutable. They provide a center of control.”

According to the co-founder of Aptos, blockchain technology might provide a means to decide if individuals can grant AI permission to view their content. Ching noted that as an ideal backend system for handling such data, blockchain fits perfectly in this context.

Potential application on social media platforms

Ching, who previously worked at Meta, also said platforms like Facebook generate billions of unique content per day. While blockchain can help with AI training consent, the executive recognized that this may involve high costs. He said: 

“If you’re gonna add controls around each of those pieces of data, there’s gonna be a high transaction throughput, there’s gonna be costs involved.”

Even so, the executive indicated that such scenarios are exactly what they aim to facilitate as they construct the Aptos network.

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2024-12-04 13:35