There is a boom coming. Bitcoin has arrived and its price is breaking records. Artificial intelligence (AI) is all the rage. And the American people just elected a president with a deregulatory mentality.
All the ingredients are there. If everything is managed well, America will soon embark on a period of prolonged wealth creation rarely seen in modern history. For that to happen, a few things need to happen, starting with the government largely staying out of the way.
This is difficult to do since people rely on the government to maintain the stability of currency and other means of exchange. It is also meant to weed out and protect against fraudsters who take advantage of the hype around any innovative technology to prey on naive and unsuspecting investors looking to, as the saying goes, “get rich quick.”
None of this should be thrown overboard in the pursuit of the new “new economy.” As we move forward with integrating crypto technology into the global financial system and layering AI on manufacturing, the caveat – Buyer Beware – remains a solid strategy for everyone. The better the industry can educate the American public about what digital tokens are, how to tell the good from the bad, and how they can be used to transform commerce, the sooner they will be widely adopted. The same goes for AI, which to this day is still talked about as if it were part of a science fiction future where computers would dominate humanity.
What people don’t know or choose to ignore is that AI is already being used – to significant effect – in healthcare, energy and manufacturing, leading to lower costs. costs, increased efficiency and advances that benefit everyone.
The Mayo Clinic says AI is already improving the quality of preventive screenings, diagnostics and treatments, particularly for cancer patients who experience better outcomes. Bitcoin also improves healthcare, or so IBM thinks. The company used blockchain, the technology that makes cryptocurrency viable as a transferable store of value, to make the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s health data systems better and more secure.
Accenture and Shell have partnered to use crypto technology to develop an airline reservation system for American Express, where business travelers can choose to reduce their carbon footprint by quickly matching them with flights using cleaner fuel .
There are groups, like the National Cryptocurrency Association (NCA), that work to share information and best practices and educate consumers about the benefits of broader blockchain adoption. They also work to combat misinformation and address the general lack of understanding at the end-user level regarding crypto.
Blockchain seems to have a head start on AI in this regard, but that may be because it has been around longer. However, the highway code is still being written. Gary Gensler, the crypto skeptic who served as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under President Joe Biden, recently announced he would resign at the end of the current administration. Donald Trump can now replace him with someone friendly to cryptocurrencies, capable of enacting a set of rules that will allow America to close the gap that its regulatory inaction has created with countries like China, which are much more advanced in digital finance.
There is growing recognition that a similar effort must be made with AI so that the public better understands how it works. The American Association of Retired Persons is one group that recently launched a major initiative, but there is still much to be done. Groups like this and the NCA can and should take the lead in educating the public about these technologies, how they work, and why they are worth paying attention to.
Modern technologies are for everyone, not a privileged few. Increased awareness and education will help us better leverage these technologies from a practical and policy perspective and open the door to safe and beneficial mass adoption. We need to engage the public instead of scaring them.
Peter Roff is a media researcher at the Trans-Atlantic Leadership Network, a former columnist for US News & World Report and a senior political editor for United Press International. Contact Roff at RoffColumns@gmail.com.
