Vitalik: Ethereum must defend decentralization in the AI era

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined the role of the network in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), The Block reported. He said Ethereum should focus on practical applications that protect privacy, decentralization, and human agency, rather than on building artificial general intelligence (AGI). Buterin highlighted the need for trustless tools that allow users to interact with AI systems privately, citing examples like cryptographic payment mechanisms and client-side verification technologies that reduce reliance on large language models (LLMs) and centralized intermediaries. He added that the network should also support AI agents in conducting transactions without human intervention. In the realm of governance, Buterin suggested that AI tools could improve prediction markets and complex voting mechanisms. He predicted that AI technology will be more useful if it is used to augment human judgment rather than replace it.