Opinion of: Steven Smith, Head of Protocol and Applied Research, Tools for Humanity
Blockchains have been designed as transparent, decentralized and accessible trust systems. The age of AI, however, has introduced new major challenges. Almost half of all internet traffic are generated by bots, with up to 80% of blockchain transactions now automated and AI agents explaining most of ONCHAIN’s activities.
While some robots serve legitimate and useful purposes, others – like those used for air agriculture and the creation of false accounts – obstruct hoof networks, driving and monopolization costs of space and resources.
It is up to humans to protect the blockchains we know and love, ensuring that people are not unjustly disadvantaged by automated systems, isolated from the effect of maximum extractional attacks and exploits, and without the need to pay significant gas costs to be included in a block.
The control of robots is already there
The AI robots are increasingly an integral part of the networks and capable of more sophisticated exploits, dominating trading volumes, increasing gas costs and handling decentralized financing markets (DEFI).
In some cases, networks have found that failure rates pass in front of 75% due to congestion induced by the bot. Even Ethereum Mempool is increasingly flooded with automated transactions, forcing human users to compete for a rare block space.
The problem extends beyond blockchain networks – this affects the entire economy. Robots fueled by AI should disrupt traditional banking and financial services, threatening the very foundations for managing money and transactions.
This is only a matter of time before bad players start to deploy new Fraud tools focused on large -scale AIs, creating an unprecedented safety nightmare for financial institutions, businesses and users.
It has already started. The AI -led botnets fed a 55% increase in distributed denial attacks (DDOS) against the banking and financial services sector in 2024.
If the action is not taken, humans risk giving in control of decentralized and traditional financial systems to automated systems optimized for speed and scale – not equity or accessibility.
Scalability alone will not solve this problem
Until now, the answer to these problems has focused on scalability. Layer-2 solutions, Rollups and high performance execution customers perform faster and cheaper transactions.
However, scaling without focusing on human users has unforeseen consequences. The lower costs mean that attackers can cause a lot of sorrow, and robots can flood networks more easily. Meanwhile, faster transactions mean that AI merchants can further surpass human investors.
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It has already played several times. A spam attack against Zcash has seriously disturbed his blockchain. When launched a token, Mantia Network underwent a ddos attack, slowing withdrawals and frustrating. On Ethereum, the robots were used to handle gas prices during high traffic periods, resulting in delayed transactions and higher transaction costs for real humans.
Although scalability is critical, it is just as important to prioritize another fundamental element of the conception of blockchain: proof of human.
Proof of human infrastructure
Proof of human infrastructure is a mechanism that digitally verifies humanity and uniqueness of a person. This is essential to keep control of blockchain systems in human hands, giving real people the power to ensure that blockchains do not become automated playgrounds for robots – especially since AI agents continue to adapt.
Human proof systems guarantee that blockchain architecture is evolving with a human leading approach. Networks must allocate a guaranteed block space for verified human users, ensuring that automated trading robots do not push essential transactions.
The introduction of gas grants for human users can also prevent them from being assessed during the extreme congestion periods of the network. Optimized execution customers can improve efficiency while implementing guarantees against spam based on bots.
The architecture of the blockchain has made remarkable progress of scalability, interoperability and security. We must also ensure positive experiences for humans. As an industrial, it is fundamental to provide the possibility of distinguishing between real people and online robots to ensure that the sector can continue to grow in the long term.
The choice is ours. We can allow unproductive robots to take control of our networks, repel human users and undermine the main decentralization promise. Or, we can implement the necessary parameters to maintain the blocks of human centered blocks and ensure greater control over productive robots, ensuring more equitable access, safety and durability.
Now is the time to act. The future of blockchain and bringing more humans depend on it.
Opinion of: Steven Smith, head of the protocol and applied research, tools for humanity.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and must not be considered as legal or investment advice. The points of view, the thoughts and opinions expressed here are the only of the author and do not reflect or do not necessarily represent the opinions and opinions of Cointellegraph.
