Can AI write a blog about IoT and Web3?

Recently we’ve been having a lot of fun in the office playing around with AI image generators like DALL-E 2 (John wrote a great blog about it). And it got me thinking about whether something similar is available for writing. 

If an AI can create a pretty decent picture, is there one that could write a passable blog post? 

After a quick Google, it was clear that many people are already creating content-writing AI bots. 

At least, AI is what’s being used to describe this tech. Whether it’s actually AI is debatable, as the phrase is very open to interpretation. The tech on show here is probably better described as machine learning. It’s taking a huge language data set and learning what natural responses would be. 

So, in the interest of science (and also because it sounded fun), I gave one of these writing tools a few prompts, asking it to write a blog about IoT and Web3. These are two things that I’m very interested in at the moment. 

The IoT is something we see as a big part of Newicon’s future, as it becomes more ubiquitous and important to both business and personal life. While Web3 seems like a natural progression in how we use the internet. 

Without further ado, let’s take a look at what the “AI” thought about how these two technologies might meet.   

The IoT and Web3: Bridging the Gap Between the Internet of Things and Blockchain Technology‍

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of devices that are connected via internet sensors and software. These connected devices can monitor their own state and report it to a centralized computer system. If you’ve ever used Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant, you’ve interacted with an IoT device. Many internet-connected thermostats, lightbulbs, home appliances, cars, and other everyday objects are also IoT devices. The potential for blockchain technology to decentralize the operation of IoT networks isn’t lost on developers or businesses as they build out this fast-growing sector. In this article, we explore what the Internet of Things is, how it works with blockchain technology and why these two trends are likely to grow side by side in the near future.

What is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of devices that are connected via internet sensors and software. These connected devices can monitor their own state and report it to a centralized computer system. If you’ve ever used Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant, you’ve interacted with an IoT device. Many internet-connected thermostats, lightbulbs, home appliances, cars, and other everyday objects are also IoT devices. The potential for blockchain technology to decentralize the operation of IoT networks isn’t lost on developers or businesses as they build out this fast-growing sector. In this article, we explore what the Internet of Things is, how it works with blockchain technology and why these two trends are likely to grow side by side in the near future.

What is blockchain?

A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed ledger that uses cryptography to maintain a tamper-proof record of transactions. A blockchain is used to track the ownership and transfer of digital assets like cryptocurrencies, but businesses use blockchain technology for other purposes too, like supply chain management and computer security. The blockchain is a sequential data structure that’s replicated across a network of computers. This means that a blockchain can’t be stored in one place, but is instead copied and synchronized across a wide network of computers. The blockchain ledger is a long list, or chain, of blocks. Each block has a timestamp and links to the previous block, creating a chain of blocks: hence the name “blockchain”.

What is Web3?

The term Web3 refers to the next iteration of the World Wide Web, which promises greater decentralization and privacy. To get a better understanding of what Web3 might look like, let’s first examine the current state of the internet. The internet was created with the intention of connecting people and information — and to function as a decentralized network. However, due to the design of the internet, which was created before the advent of blockchain technology, most of the information and services on the internet are centralized. In other words, most of the internet is run by a few large companies such as Google and Facebook. These companies control how the internet works and who can access it. Smaller companies and individuals have a hard time competing because it’s expensive and challenging to build the kind of infrastructure that a centralized service like Google and Facebook has.

How might the Internet of Things and Web3 combine?

The Internet of Things and Web3 are both growing areas of technological development that are likely to see increased investment and adoption as time goes on. Together, IoT and Web3 can form a new type of distributed network where devices talk to each other directly, utilizing smart contracts and blockchain tokenization to send data and value back and forth. This is a decentralized network, so no one company or entity is in charge of the system. This allows for more open and equitable access to data.

Conclusion

The Internet of Things and blockchain technology have significant potential to transform the way we do business and conduct our daily lives. The IoT and Web3 are both growing areas of technological development that are likely to see increased investment and adoption as time goes on. Together, IoT and Web3 can form a new type of distributed network where devices talk to each other directly, utilizing smart contracts and blockchain tokenization to send data and value back and forth. This is a decentralized network, so no one company or entity is in charge of the system. This allows for more open and equitable access to data.

What do I make of it?

It’s certainly interesting. It’s done a great job of pulling together information about these different technologies and writing up summaries in what sounds like pretty natural language.

The part where it looks at where these two technologies intersect is interesting too. I think the idea that the decentralized, privacy-centric elements of Web3 probably will work in IoT networks to add more privacy and security for people’s personal information. 

With security being one of the biggest issues facing the development of the IoT, the idea of using blockchain and decentralized data to keep IoT networks more secure sounds promising. 

The depth of the content is a obviously not quite what you’d expect from a person who’s an expert in the topic. 

With a human, you might get more expansion of ideas around Web3 and the IoT. Perhaps going into some technologies that could occur in the intersection between the two. Or maybe particular industries that stand to benefit. 

Is there a place for this technology?

In the market, I can already see potential in this technology being used to at give you the nugget of an article. It could be a great way to gather data on a topic before writing it yourself. 

One downside — how do we know if this information is correct. It’s not got any references. It could be made up! This is something that the creators of these tools will have to look at. 

In the future, as this technology advances I can easily see it getting to a place (much the same as with art and DALL-E which John talked about in his recent blog) where the content produced by these tools will be good enough to post straight to a blog. 

It could even write an academic paper, which must be a scary thought for schools and universities everywhere. 

In short, we’re definitely going to see more of this technology, and there’s a good chance it’ll be sooner rather than later. 

Want to talk about how AI could be built into your next software development project? 

Book a call with Mark.