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Friday morning musings with ChatGPT
Why Do AI Applications Resonate Better with End-Users than Blockchain Applications?
Iām currently in San Francisco, and yesterday, I found myself sitting in a Waymo, Googleās self-driving taxi again, stunned at how quickly Iāve gotten used to the fact that thereās no one behind the wheel. Itās wild when you think about itāwhat seemed like science fiction not too long ago is now just another part of life, at least here. Weāre already living in a future where self-driving cars navigate the streets with ease, and itās no big deal.
But itās not just those cars that have evolvedāitās us too. Weāve adapted, almost without noticing, to a world where the extraordinary has become mundane. Technologies that once seemed like the stuff of imagination are now woven into the fabric of everything, all at once. This shift, where the future quietly embeds itself into the ordinary, says as much about where weāre headed as the tech itself.
The internet is much like that self-driving carāalready in motion, powered by AI that delivers real, tangible results. AI didnāt just arriveāit took over, seamlessly integrating into our routines and making itself indispensable. Blockchain, meanwhile, is still under the hood, struggling to prove it belongs on the road at all.
AI is the turbo-charged engine propelling this journey forward. Itās personal, it works, and itās real. Whether itās Claude, ChatGPT, Midjourney, or the latest cool AI tool, AI has captured our imagination and delivered on many old and new promises from day one. Thereās a visceral, almost magical connection when AI understands you, predicts your needs, or creates something that didnāt exist a moment before. Itās the kind of experience that makes you feel like the future is already here, in your hands. Although still buggy and sometimes laggy, it allows us to imagine where it could go.
Blockchain, on the other hand, remains more academic and theoreticalāa potential thatās yet to be realized in a way that matters to many of us day by day. Itās the electric engine thatās yet to find its Tesla, and hasnāt found its Prius yet eitherāan impressive piece of technology searching for a reason to exist beyond often pure ideological commitment. Weāve heard the promises of decentralization, transparency, and a new kind of trust, but they remain abstract, distant. For the average Western person, blockchain is a solution looking for a problem, rather than a tool that makes life easier today. Thatās not to say blockchain isnāt or couldnāt be useful in many situationsālook at how stablecoins have gained traction in regions suffering from hyperinflation. But even then, itās the stablecoin itself that people care about, not the underlying blockchain tech driving it.
So, letās extend the metaphor. Think of the self-driving car as the future of the internet, moving seamlessly and effortlessly toward its destination. But what powers it? In reality, itās an electric skateboardāa flat platform with wheels and a battery, the essential foundation. Similar to blockchain. Blockchain is just āanotherā electric skateboard: a powerful, innovative base with immense potential. But without a compelling use caseāwithout the right body built on topāitās just a platform waiting for something to happen. Especially since, like EVs, it has not yet reached full equivalence. Combustion engines and hybrids still, in day-to-day use, are often the better choice for practical reasons.
The reason people buy into EVs isnāt just about how advanced the engine is. Some choose EVs because they believe in the technofuturist vision. Others are drawn by the climate narrativeāreducing emissions, moving toward sustainability. And some simply want the latest, coolest thing on the market. The motivations are different, but at the end of the day, underlying all of it, everyone wants just the same result: getting from point A to point B efficiently, with as little hassle (AI makes the work that driving takes away) as possible. Blockchain needs to figure out how to deliver similar clear valueāit has to become part of how we navigate our daily lives as efficiently and practically as what we already have through centralized clouds and services too. In everyday life, ideology often isnāt good enough; to deal with impracticality, the pain needs to be massive (like hyperinflation); if not, the decision is purely ideological, based on beliefs, or treated as a toy or guilty pleasure.
The problem is that blockchain is still missing the everyday infrastructure it needs to truly take off. Just like electric vehicles needed charging stations on every corner, blockchain needs the same kind of practical, everyday supportāa network of services and tools that integrate seamlessly into our lives. We need more than just the technology itself; we need the roads, the signs, the gas stations of the blockchain worldāuser-friendly apps, seamless integrations, and systems that fit into our routines without us even noticing. Itās about making blockchain as mundane and necessary as Wi-Fi or smartphonesāpart of the invisible fabric of our daily existence. But that shift isnāt happening overnight. And it needs to abstract and hide away all complexities and responsibilities that might come with that new technology. Day by day, we want things that disappear, not that add more work.
Blockchain needs its āTesla 3 momentāāa breakthrough that doesnāt just prove the technologyās worth but makes it desirable and practical for the masses. That moment when blockchain isnāt just for the tech elite or the ideologically driven, or for those with massive real pain that makes them consider taking complicated, complex extra steps, but for everyone. Until then, itās time to focus on building solutions that matter today, not just dreams for tomorrow. Because while weāre waiting for that breakthrough, letās not forget that the Priusāa hybrid solution, bridging the old and the newāis still selling very well. The future of blockchain may well depend on finding that practical, user-friendly middle ground first, before we enter the giga factory territory at all.
Letās not lose sight of what truly drives us in the mundane, everyday situations. Itās cool, inspiring, and necessary to think of blockchains as the electric skateboards under the hoodāfull of potential, but still needing the right vehicle to make their impact felt on the open road. The future may be filled with self-driving cars, but itās the engine underneath that will determine how far and fast we can go. But for now, we are still in a transition period, and EV, hybrid, or combustion engines sit on a different level of decision than just wanting to get from A to B.
RM
