The Multiplier Effect

Blockchain X AI Ups The Ante On Your Creative Potential

I-magination… I-nspiration… I-nnovation... I-ngenuity…

Then there’s intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence, which is a tool box (not a basic toolkit, but think an entire fancy schmancy power tool Pandora’s Box)  to channel your native intelligence a.k.a. that I-ntuitive spark into an original work of art. Whether it is music or film, graphics or a manuscript, there’s no glass ceiling. The only way is up.

True art is universal. It gets magnified when it is shared, designed precisely to break down walls, boundaries and conventions, figuratively and geographically. If AI unfetters your creativity, blockchain unleashes your distribution potential. Are you ready to take ownership? Let’s shatter the stereotypes and cut to the chase.

A blockchain is a decentralized nodal network – an encrypted Web3 ecosystem of data, which is stored and secured on every block in the chain, so that even when you share it, the work is always attributed back to the original artist (If you haven’t already, read my Open Letter To All Creative Souls).

Why is this so important?

No one can pinch it.

Purloining creative works is the bugbear of AI. In fact, AI’s biggest Achille’s heel is the tidal wave of protests from the creative community whose work has been “scraped” which is tech-talk for “ripped off.”

But once a piece of work is up on a blockchain, you can’t pass off someone else’s work as your own – therefore ownership rights are no longer contested.

Empowered to share it. Exponentially.

So, now that you have resolved the ownership issue distribution becomes a lot simpler. In a Web2 ecosystem you might share it on a mainstream platform e.g. Meta. Being a centralized ecosystem, Meta has an overriding authority with regards to censorship. If Meta doesn’t agree with the content being shared, it will suppress it or block it all together.

A decentralized platform, however, does not aim to play policeman. It allows you to share your content in its rawest, original format, based on the premise that the artist is responsible for the work that he or she is sharing, and the consumer is responsible for the work that he or she is consuming.

Essentially, a centralized platform is an enabler, but skews you in the direction of its choosing, while a decentralized platform empowers you to take responsibility for your own decisions. When you look at it from that lens, it’s a social gamechanger.

It doesn’t suck the juice out of your squeeze.

But just because your work passed the censorship test, doesn’t mean that there’s a free lunch. The centralized platform takes a little jam off the spread and butters up its own toast. Yup. It takes a cut of your revenues.

A decentralized platform, however, is a lean lunch. The crux of the issue though is that your work speaks for itself – and the onus of developing a following rests on the creator.

If you were to put your work up on Mastodon, a decentralized Web3 social media platform, it doesn’t retain any commissions. Nor does your work get blocked or skewed by the Mastodon algorithm. It allows you to choose your own audience of appreciative viewers, instead of tweaking your viewership for advertising eyeballs.

On Web2 platforms like YouTube or TikTok, advertising drives content monetization. Some Web3 platforms have their own monetization programs that incentivizes artists. Mastodon, however, is part of a broader network of federated servers or decentralized nodes. As a result, it can remain ad-free and is driven by its own niche community. Mastodon does not encourage either ads or algorithms at all. In fact, it’s founded on this principle. However, although it doesn’t have its own in-build rewards pool, creators can still generate revenue for content on Mastodon by linking it to other platforms like Liberapay. The idea is to keep it community-driven, so that if the audience is drawn to your work, they will support it.

Rack up the eyeballs, stack up the cash.

What I find most fascinating about the decentralized web is its suppleness and agility to facilitate micro-payments for even a single view! In a centralized ecosystem you can potentially monetize content via advertising generated revenue. A platform like Medium is essentially a Web2 platform, where content can be shared at no cost to the viewer, but it does have a subscription model, and at the back end, Medium it is evolving towards decentralized Web3 integrations.

HIVE, an open source blockchain, is creating a massive buzz. A decentralized social media network, HIVE is run by its users in a collaborative manner, where everyone has a stake and a say. Creators who post their work on HIVE retain ownership over their data and content. Creators and curators (first movers who spy popular content and promote it) are incentivized with cryptocurrency rewards. Once content is posted on HIVE, it becomes immutable, automatically allowing it to be preserved in its original format in the future.

Like other decentralized networks, HIVE does not censor your content. Its edge lies in its speed and scalability. It has a rapid-fire three second transaction processing speed. As an open source de-web network, everyone is welcome to become a user. Although HIVE does allow you to maintain your privacy with private messaging and pseudonyms, it is built on a foundation of transparency, and all transactions are recorded on the network to ensure that it cannot be manipulated easily.

One of the distinctive factors about HIVE that makes it much more viable, is that it uses a Proof of Stake Consensus Algorithm versus other networks’ Proof of Work Algorithm (want to learn more about Proof of Work vs. Proof of Stake? Read my book: Media On The Block). This makes it a lot more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable, and the carbon footprint is one of the lowest among blockchain powered social media platforms.

Another thing I love about HIVE is its NFT (non-fungible token) integration (want to learn more about NFTs? Read my book: Media On The Block). Thanks to this feature, which is quite unique, HIVE also doubles up as a place where one can create and trade these collectible digital assets.

Are you Media-SMART?

HIVE is now offering users the option of creating their own Smart Media Tokens (SMTs). So, what is an SMT exactly?

I like to think of a Smart Media Token as a catalyst for creativity. It is essentially a simplified cryptocurrency token designed to incentivize content creation.

How does it differ from normal cryptocurrency? An SMT is a streamlined, simplified token that can be created without having to create a whole new blockchain. This way, content publishers can create their own incentivization program, without having to get too technical about it.

SMTs are based on a Proof of Brain algorithm – a reimagined concept – which autonomously distributes tokens to those who have earned them. The beauty of an SMT is that can also build a smart contract into it, and once the creator sets up the fundamental parameters for its function, blockchain can launch and disseminate the token on its own, without the need for human intervention.

STEEM was the first blockchain to conceptualize the SMT on STEEMIT, its decentralized social media network, but other networks like HIVE are quickly catching on. I have to admit, this is all still being fine-tuned even as we speak.

But it’s already come a long way, and I believe that there is no turning back.

Even if it is a work in progress right now, it won’t be much longer. If you look at the big picture, SMTs are like a drip-irrigation system, creating a sustainable trickle of revenue into your wallet. The beauty of it? It’s valid for as long as it is up there – even if you’re gone.

Guardian of your creative legacy.

That brings me to my final major point – which is your creative legacy. One of the most fraught aspects of the creative world is what happens once the artist dies? Who owns the rights and how do creative dues get paid out and to whom? From Elvis to Michael Jackson, the disputes over the post-humous ownership of creative rights and the dues have been epic. It’s traumatic for the beneficiaries of the estate and a legal nightmare for the producers, which can take years to untangle.

But blockchain unravels this conundrum. Because even after you’re gone, the rights of your creative work can be traced back to its original owner (and yes, a will or trust deed or any kind of legal agreement that clearly demonstrates how they are bequeathed and how revenues are to be distributed can also be secured and verified on blockchain).

The work itself cannot be tampered with and remains immutable however, a challenge can arise where access is concerned, and some experts advise setting up a digital estate plan and a secure digital vault that can be accessed by your executors and/or your trustees after you pass away. A smart contract, if set up correctly at its inception, can also prove to be a lifeline as it will continue to act upon its instructions even if you are no longer alive (want to learn more about Smart Contracts? Read my book: Media On The Block).

Safeguarding your sanctity.

While the creative space has infinite potential, artists often get bogged down by paperwork and impeded by exploitation. Broken trust and betrayal by a manager or a distributor can often lead to immense frustration, grief and in some cases, even suicide.

Blockchain not only serves as a tech facilitator it also serves a critical social purpose. While AI mitigates the repetitive and mundane tasks in the production process, blockchain provides a robust springboard for sharing your work.

The way I see it, when you harness both to come up with something really original – you’re I-nvincible.