In this thought-provoking discussion with Can Gurel (Delphi), the NEAR co-founders share insights on Illia's work co-authoring the groundbreaking "Attention is All You Need" paper that introduced transformers, their vision for user-owned AI and democratizing access to AI capabilities and more.
Key insights include:
- How NEAR's original focus on AI developer tools led them to discover the need for better payment infrastructure for distributed workforces
- Their framework for user-owned AI that optimizes for individual success rather than platform profits
- Technical challenges and solutions for distributed AI training and inference
- The importance of private computing for enabling user-controlled AI systems
The conversation provides valuable perspective on the intersection of AI and crypto from pioneers who have worked at the cutting edge of both fields, offering insights into how decentralized technologies could enable more democratic and user-centric AI development.
"The reality is we kind of have like a little bit of a model that some data we don't want to share... Your assistant will be able to help you with filing your taxes and finding ways to file receipts for expenses, and it will need to have access to all of this. What you don't want is all of this data end up leaking or showing up in somebody else's chat." — Illia Polosukhin, NEAR Protocol
Watch more sessions from Crypto x AI Month here: https://delphidigital.io/crypto-ai
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Crypto x AI Month is the largest virtual event dedicated to the intersection of crypto and AI, featuring 40+ top builders, investors, and practitioners. Over the course of three weeks, this event brings together panels, debates, and discussions with the brightest minds in the space, presented by Delphi Digital.
Crypto x AI Month is free and open to everyone thanks to the support from our sponsors:
https://olas.network/
https://venice.ai/
https://near.org/
https://mira.foundation/
https://www.theoriq.ai/
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Follow the Speakers:
- Can Gurel on Twitter/X ► https://x.com/cannngurel
- Illia Polosukhin on Twitter/X ► https://x.com/ilblackdragon
- Alex Skidanov on Twitter/X ► https://x.com/alexskidanov
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Acknowledgments
00:48 Introduction of Illia and Alex from NEAR
03:11 Origins of the Transformers Paper
08:07 Discussion on LLMs and Model Understanding
11:05 Alpha Go and Self-Improvement in AI
15:16 NEAR's Evolution from AI to Blockchain
19:37 The Story Behind NEAR's Foundation
26:32 Vision for User-Owned AI
30:31 Analysis of the Crypto-AI Stack
35:28 Data Labeling and Trust Systems
39:33 Private Inference and Edge Computing
44:17 User Privacy and Trust in AI
47:44 Edge Computing Challenges
49:54 Novel Data Sources and Synthetic Data
52:40 AI Agent Security and DeFi Applications
58:43 Formal Verification in AI Systems
1:03:14 Distributed Training Challenges
1:11:04 AI Talent and Crypto Industry
1:13:44 Rating Future Technologies and Closing Thoughts
Disclaimer
All statements and/or opinions expressed in this interview are the personal opinions and responsibility of the respective guests, who may personally hold material positions in companies or assets mentioned or discussed. The content does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Delphi Citadel Partners, LLC or its affiliates (collectively, “Delphi Ventures”), which makes no representations or warranties of any kind in connection with the contained subject matter. Delphi Ventures
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