binji@binji_x
ethereum is SERIOUSLY gearing up for ai. (erc-8004) by @DavideCrapis just dropped, it’s called “trustless agents” and here’s what you need to know:
but first:
you can think of ethereum as an important substrate for ai, not necessarily because it can run all the models, but because it can run all their trust.
here’s a thought experiment:
> imagine millions of autonomous agents moving across the internet. they transact, negotiate, and perhaps even form their own coalitions..(dao’s, anyone?)
> in this reality, what substrate would they choose to anchor themselves to? do they pick a single company server? a google api? an open database that anyone can rewrite?
> if you are working with these agents to do tasks cross 50 services (banks, social media, crms), would you just let it all run on a database that can be deleted?
probably not.
if you were an agent with no loyalty except to your own survival, you wouldn’t want to bet your memory and reputation on one corporation or one government: you’d want a ledger that no one could quietly change behind your back. you’d want neutral ground.
you’d want ethereum.
so, we’ve done the why, now let’s dive into the how:
erc-8004 builds on the agent-to-agent protocol (a2a).
a2a gives agents a shared language, but language isn’t enough: machines also need a way to check
> who are you,
> what have you done
> and are you behaving as you claim?
the proposal sketches an extension to a2a with three registries onchain:
1) identity: a verifiable anchor for “i am me.”
2) reputation: an immutable trail of how an agent has behaved.
3) validation: proofs that an action really hap
this is a practical ERC that can be used and iterated on in the wild; the specifics can stay offchain, but the skeleton of trust lives on ethereum.
8004 lets agents that have never seen each other meet in the wild and still transact with confidence.
look closely and will you see the outlines of a machine economy
your agent negotiating with some unknown counterpart in another part of the world, and it doesn’t matter because both are plugged into the same incorruptible memory.
this is just the beginning of machines running on trustware. smart contracts are how we will communicate with ai, the immutable ledger is how they will communicate with eachother, and ethereum is how we will build this right.
this is just a start, but you can come and lay the foundations of a sci-fi future done right with us.
