On the one hand, AI can improve efficiency, trading, even security audits.
But on the other hand… what happens when large AI-driven entities begin dominating mining, node operation, or even governance decisions in DAO-based Bitcoin side projects?
You still can't mine with AI, you can only mine with real hardware. While AI can be used to possibly help improve the hardware, there still needs to be people buying that hardware and mining with it.
Same with nodes. Using AI may change the difficulty of carrying out certain attacks using nodes but it won't change anything apart from that.
I also don't know what you mean by "DAO-based bitcoin side projects", any side project specially on other shitchains are side projects and won't affect bitcoin!
Can it manipulate narratives and markets at scale?
More manipulation that what we've seen so far? I'd say the effectiveness is low.
Could we eventually see AI-designed chains trying to “out-Bitcoin” Bitcoin?
AI is not actually "intelligence" despite the name. It's a tool that can help us improve certain tasks. It cannot innovate and to "out bitcoin" you'd need innovation, a significant one.