The development of cryptocurrency as an asset class and an emerging technology has brought both excitement and financial gains to many investors and enthusiasts. Every investor dreams of getting in early on “The next Amazon, Apple, or Bitcoin” in pursuit of generational wealth.

However, these opportunities are few and far between, and as every devout crypto-native knows, the road is often littered with failed projects, broken promises and volatility. But in 2023, if you were to ask a group of tech investors about the most exciting innovation of the last decade, many would have the same answer: Artificial Intelligence.

The rapid advancement of AI has shocked many and is quickly becoming a part of everyday life. The use cases for products such as ChatGPT and Midjourney are exciting for developers, investors, and casual users alike. Meanwhile, major companies across the world are racing to find the most efficient way to utilize AI to get a leg up on their competition.

As AI technology and machine-based learning continue to advance, entrepreneurs and investors will be looking to capitalize on the opportunity to create and invest in new products with massive potential.

Being digital brethren, many feel that AI and blockchain can benefit greatly from each other. How these two technologies can optimally interact exactly remains unclear, but some blockchain-native AI products have performed remarkably well even through the bear market.

Bittensor

The number one AI cryptocurrency by market cap, TAO, or Bittensor, has been the face of AI altcoins throughout 2023. Bittensor brands itself as a “Peer-to-Peer Intelligence Market” in whichpeers rank each other by training neural networks which learn the value of their neighbors.

In short, Bittensor presents the commoditization of machine learning models. The network looks to combine the innate self-improvement technology in machine learning with the open-source, peer-to-peer nature of Bitcoin. Fueled by TAO incentives, machine learning models are ranked and improved upon, thus creating a collectively run intelligence market.

Amid the ongoing crypto rally, TAO has surged 200% in the last 30 days, indicative of the market’s enthusiasm for both Bittensor and the entire AI sector.

AI Art

The machine learning movement has also birthed a new subsector in the digital art space in the form of AI Art. The growth of both on-chain and off-chain AI art production has increased dramatically through services such as Midjourney and NFT platforms such as BrainDrops.

AI Art minted as NFTs presents a natural fit, as the medium itself is also digital. Perhaps overshadowed by the generative art frenzy of 2021, AI art has been minted to the blockchain since as early as 2018, and other than a few collections, such as The Lost Robbies and DeepBlack, the genre has mostly been overlooked until recently.

The sector has seen renewed interest in 2023. The excitement surrounding AI art has extended beyond just crypto-natives, as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) recently added Unsupervised by Refik Anadol to its permanent collection. Not only has this move further legitimized AI Art as a medium, but it’s also the MoMA’s first NFT acquisition.

The Future of AI and Blockchain

The intersection of crypto and AI has been and may continue to be one of the hottest topics over the coming years. Ideal product market fit is still being tinkered with, considering how niche both technologies are.

Despite being in its early days, AI has displayed its potential to touch an array of use cases within crypto. Distribution of learning models through products like Bittensor and AI Art as NFTs surely just scrapes the surface of what is possible.

Like so many other industries, the automation of tasks is expected to become a mainstay. Whether that’s in the form of tasks such as smart contract audits and risk assessment or something entirely different remains to be seen. Regardless of the broad and sometimes vague vision that many have for AI and blockchain, the confluence of two of the most exciting sectors in tech since the Internet has investors, developers, and enthusiasts on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what comes next.