“The case for blockchains & Commoditization of Data”

The advent of foundation models in machine learning (ML) has catalyzed a paradigm shift in the AI engineer roadmap, transforming the way we approach data training and utilization.
read this: https://www.latent.space/p/ai-engineer?s=09
This shift is leading to the inevitable commoditization of data, a phenomenon that carries profound implications for the future of AI and the digital economy.

Foundation models, such as OpenAI's GPT-3, Anthropic’s Claude+, Meta's LLaMa, UAE's Falcon 40b, etc. are pre-trained on vast amounts of data, encapsulating a broad spectrum of patterns and knowledge. These models are designed to be fine-tuned for specific tasks, making them highly versatile and efficient.

This shift from data collection to fine-tuning has significant implications for the role of data in AI. Instead of focusing on gathering and curating large, high-quality datasets for training models, the emphasis has now shifted towards fine-tuning pre-trained models. This transition is akin to the shift from artisanal craftsmanship to industrial manufacturing, with foundation models serving as the factories of the AI world.

However, this shift also raises critical concerns about data ownership, access, and regulation. Sam Altman and OpenAI, having trained GPT by scraping the web, are now advocating for further regulation to limit competition. This move has sparked a debate about the ethical implications of monopolizing access to data and AI. The recent incident of rate limits on Twitter is a case in point, suggesting that companies with large datasets may soon charge users for fine-tuning foundation models on proprietary data.

As data becomes a commodity, its value will be determined by the open market. This commoditization of data is not merely an economic phenomenon; it represents a cultural shift that will transform our relationship with data. In this new world, data is not just a commodity; it's the ultimate resource available. It's a resource that can drive innovation, fuel economic growth, and democratize access to knowledge and information.

This is where decentralized data storage, indexing, and oracle platforms, such as Filecoin, Arweave, Graph, and Chainlink, come into play. These platforms provide a secure, peer-to-peer decentralized way to store and access data, ensuring its continued accessibility and value in the face of increasing commoditization.

For long, Blockchains lacked proof of concept, use case and PMF to the general tech space. Soon, they will unlock their highest added-value yet: "The Open Commoditized Data Networks"