Nexus 9:
We understand you are a believer in Ethereum and are invested in that project (at least emotionally), and we sympathesize with the decentralization movement and thus have goals in common, however . . .
I understand your concerns over scalability and computational efficiency, but this is something that will work itself out in future developments of the Ethereum platform.
We are somewhat doubtful of both premises. Our focus on scalability and performance is motivated by a very different vision for the use and applications of the network. Ethereum - as we understand it - is mainly focused on building decentralized Web applications. Aionic is focused on enabling new applications of AI, deep learning research, and so on: a very different immediate niche. There is naturally overlap - both designs encompass programmable smart contracts - but the visions are very different.
Like it or not, Ethereum started without a solution to scalability/efficiency. To his credit, Vitalik Buterin honestly admitted this from the beginning.
Our vision/plan for Aionic begins with a fully scalable design (driven by the specific needs of machine learning) - and it turns out that this requires a radically different foundation; it can't be based on a blockchain, even the principles and philosophy are quite different. Scalability necessarily implies a partially observable environment, and that is exactly the situation where traditional computer science techniques break down and you move into the realm of AI and reasoning with uncertainty.
We cant expect to have every problem worked out from the beginning.
No - but it is reasonable to expect a strong foundation that at least points in the right eventual direction. What hard problems exactly
did ethereum solve from the beginning? Do you consider adding a scripting language for contracts solving a hard core problem?
Splitting our attention into so many different currencies and projects ..
So basically you are saying : "There can only be ethereum, even if we didn't solve any of the hard problems to start out with, ah sorry but we are the monopoly now." Well sorry, but this is market evolution.
Ethereum is the next logical step on that path.
From the perspective of AI research, Ethereum is a non factor - not even on the path.
Crowdfunding superintelligence, on the other hand, while highly desirable is not immediately feasible, nor is it something we can all give universal support. I have no doubt what you are hoping for is going to happen, but it is far in the future, perhaps web 5.0 or 6.0. If you want to dedicate your life to something that is potentially decades away, fair enough and good luck to you. Personally, I think the singularity is already happening, it begins with the open society Ethereum makes possible.
We are essentially making a bet that at least general AI is possible in less than ten years (software intelligence better at humans at programming, science, etc. that runs on a single machine with a couple GPUs and thus costs < $1,000 a year). What do you think the probability of that is? Do you have a pretty deep understanding of machine learning and neuroscience? So pick some probability for that scenario.
Now, conditional on the above, what is the market value of general AI? It's close to the market value of the
entire economy : we are talking trillions to quadrillions. It's technically more than that, because general AI will rapidly increase GDP - making the entire economy more valuable.
Web X.0 whatever doesn't lead to general AI.