“Creating a Transparent Data Landscape: How Space and Time’s Web3 Startup Can Revolutionize the World of AI”

The AI world needs more data transparency and web3 startup Space and Time says it can helpAs AI proliferates and things on the internet are easier to manipulate, there’s a need more than ever to make sure data and brands are verifiable, said Scott Dykstra, CTO and co-founder of Space and Time, on TechCrunch’s Chain Reaction podcast. Dykstra thinks the answer is through verification of data and zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs), which are cryptographic actions used to prove something about a piece of information — without revealing the origin data itself. “It has a lot to do with whether there’s an incentive for bad actors to want to manipulate things,” Dykstra said. Anytime there’s a higher incentive, where people would want to manipulate data, prices, the books, finances or more, ZK proofs can be used to verify and retrieve the data. Dykstra’s most recent concern is that AI data isn’t really verifiable.

The world of artificial intelligence (AI) is facing a pressing need for more data transparency, according to Scott Dykstra, CTO and co-founder of Space and Time. In a recent episode of TechCrunch’s Chain Reaction podcast, Dykstra shared his insights on how the proliferation of AI and the ease of manipulating online information have made it crucial for data and brands to be verifiable.

“Not to get too cryptographically religious here, but we saw that during the FTX collapse,” Dykstra said. “We had an organization that had some brand trust, like I had my personal life savings in FTX. I trusted them as a brand.”

However, the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX was found to be manipulating its internal books and deceiving investors. Dykstra likened this to altering financial records in a database without disclosing the changes.

This issue extends beyond just FTX and into other industries. “There’s an incentive for financial institutions to want to manipulate their records…so we see it all the time and it becomes more problematic,” Dykstra explained.

So what is the solution? Dykstra believes that data verification and zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs) are key. ZK proofs are cryptographic actions that can prove something about a piece of information without revealing the original data.

“It has a lot to do with whether there’s an incentive for bad actors to want to manipulate things,” Dykstra added. “Anytime there’s a higher incentive, where people would want to manipulate data, prices, the books, finances or more, ZK proofs can be used to verify and retrieve the data.”

At its core, ZK proofs involve two parties – the prover and the verifier – who confirm the accuracy of a statement without divulging any additional information. For instance, if someone wants to know if someone’s credit score is above 700, a ZK proof can confirm this to the verifier without disclosing the exact number.

Space and Time’s goal is to become the verifiable computing layer for web3 by indexing data on and off the chain. Dykstra envisions this technology being utilized across various industries, as the startup has already indexed major blockchains like Ethereum, Bitcoin, Polygon, and more. They also plan to add support for additional chains to drive the future of AI and blockchain technology.

Yet, Dykstra’s latest concern lies in the fact that AI data lacks verifiability. “I’m pretty concerned that we’re not really efficiently ever going to be able to verify that an LLM was executed correctly,” he said.

While there are teams working on creating ZK proofs for machine learning and large language models (LLMs), Dykstra believes it can take years to bring this technology to fruition. In the meantime, the model operator can potentially tamper with the system or LLM, leading to problematic outcomes.

According to Dykstra, a “decentralized, but globally, always available database” is needed and can be achieved through blockchain technology. “Everyone needs to access it, it can’t be a monopoly,” he asserted.

As an example, Dykstra cited a hypothetical scenario where OpenAI holds a database of a journal for which journalists contribute content. Instead, he believes the database should be owned and operated by the community in a decentralized and uncensorable manner. “It has to be on-chain, there’s no way around it,” Dykstra emphasized.

This article was inspired by an episode of TechCrunch’s Chain Reaction podcast. Subscribe to Chain Reaction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite pod platform to hear more stories and tips from the entrepreneurs building today’s most innovative companies.