Hyperbolic Reasoning: Smart Software and Blockchain
March 22, 2018
What pairing of words can rival “blockchain” and “artificial intelligence”? I submit that this word duo could become the next peanut butter and jelly, Ma and Pa Kettle, or semantic search. (Yeah, I know “semantic search” is a bit fuzzy, but like smart software and blockchain, marketing and hyperbolic reasoning is mostly unbounded.)
I read “How Blockchain Can Transform Artificial Intelligence.” Now I don’t know what “artificial intelligence” is. I think I understand that blockchain is a distributed database. Blockchain has the charming characteristic of housing malware, stolen videos, and CP (that’s child pornography, I believe).
I agree that a database and data management system are important to many smart software systems. I am not sure that blockchain is the right dog for the Iditarod race, however.
The write up begs to differ. I learned:
By creating segments of verified databases, models can be successfully built and implemented upon only datasets which have been verified. This will detect any faults or irregularity in the data supply chain. It also helps to reduce the stress of troubleshooting and finding abnormal datasets since the data stream is available in segments. Finally, blockchain technology is synonymous with immutability, this means the data is traceable and auditable.
And the article identifies other benefits. But won’t other types of data management systems work as well or better than the much flogged blockchain?
I would suggest that some public blockchains leak information. Furthermore, the blockchain technology can house “attachments”, unwanted fellow travelers accompanying the encrypted data and assorted impedimenta the technology requires.
Some organizations like GSR and Cambridge Analytica prefer to keep their data and access to those data under wraps. The firestorm about Cambridge Analytica’s use of social media data certainly suggests to me that a blockchain approach may not have been an enhancement to the Cambridge Analytica system.
But read the write up. Make your own judgment.
For me, the this plus that approach to buzzwordisms does not convince. The promise— indeed the hope— that zippy technologies will deliver synergies is an example of hyperbolic reasoning.
Stephen E Arnold, March 22, 2018
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