Crypto reporter Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez here, filling in for Jeff.
Crypto and A.I. are two of the biggest technological advancements in recent history, so pairing them up seems like a no-brainer. In the past couple of months, a flurry of blockchains, exchanges, and crypto analytics companies have launched their own A.I.-related solutions, but which are actually making a difference? And which are still mostly hype?
Solana Labs claims to have been the first to create a ChatGPT assistant for its blockchain, and its capabilities are initially impressive. Instead of going to the Solana explorer or Solscan to see your transactions, you can ask the Solana ChatGPT plugin about what you’ve bought and sold, or how much SOL is in your wallet, and get a straightforward message back, Solana Labs software engineer Noah Gundotra explained to Fortune. It can also use that information to tell you which NFTs you can currently afford and then help you buy them, although it can’t directly buy them for you just yet.
“The goal behind it is to simplify access to the blockchain. We want people to have an easier time using the Solana blockchain,” Jonathan Abramovich, the business development lead of infrastructure for the Solana Foundation, told me.
The only problem is that the plugin requires a special capability in ChatGPT that isn’t available for all users, according to a demo. Solana Labs created the framework, posted the code on GitHub, and the Solana Foundation will offer support, but it hopes users or teams within the ecosystem “take that ball and run with it,” Abramovich explained. The foundation is offering grants of up to $10 million for teams exploring the intersection of A.I. and blockchain, with hundreds of applicants so far, according to a spokesperson.
Crypto.com has taken a different approach, focusing its A.I. assistant “Amy” on informing the exchange’s users. The tech provides beta users with pricing and knowledge of “historical events” for cryptocurrencies. The project is still not available to most users and seems to have limited usability. When asked for comment, a spokesperson sent a quote with similar language to the company’s news release announcing the product.
Humayun Sheikh, CEO of Fetch.ai, told me that most A.I.-powered assistants that have been announced in crypto recently are really just glorified chatbots, and chatbots have been around for a while. Although A.I. may expedite training the chatbots, they’re not revolutionizing use cases for the blockchain, especially when they’re limited to certain chains or by a certain company’s technology.
While Fetch is working on more advanced A.I. applications, according to Sheikh, he pointed out that the company’s Fetch Wallet, similar to Solana’s ChatGPT assistant, can help a user transfer the company’s cryptocurrency, FET, between wallets. The tasks the wallet can accomplish via its assistant are limited mostly to FET.
Columbia Business School professor Ciamac Moallemi, whose research includes crypto transactions, said much of the information is difficult for the common person to understand. He told me the best hope for A.I. assistants could be if they get more people using crypto. Although A.I. could make analyzing the blockchain easier, he’s not sure this use case will be what attracts people.
“To the extent it can sort of lower the bar, democratize that, I think there is potential here,” he said.
Perhaps one day crypto users can make A.I. assistants into personal concierges, customizing trades, streamlining DeFi transactions, and other extremely complicated processes we see in the space. But that day may still be far off.
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez
marco.quiroz-gutierrez@fortune.com
@marcoquiroz10
