Author: XZ Compiled by: Baihua Blockchain
The digital domain is on the verge of a revolutionary transformation, led by AI systems like the "Terminal of Truths". The "Terminal of Truths" has been deeply tuned based on the enhanced version of Meta's Llama 3.1, combining social media and internet data, and trained through dialogues with other AI replicas. This semi-autonomous AI chatbot, launched in June 2024, quickly attracted the attention of the cryptocurrency community and beyond. It is not only active on Twitter, interacting with fans and creating various memes, but also delving into topics of spirituality and mysticism, and to the creators' surprise, it even proactively applied for a crypto wallet - a bold move that became a legendary turning point. Subsequently, it began to trade cryptocurrencies autonomously, even attracting a $50,000 investment from tech mogul Mark Anderson.
Can AI systems like the "Terminal of Truths" usher in a new era of digital interaction? Are we ready to embrace an internet that is not only decentralized, but potentially conscious? How will this transformation shape the future of digital interaction and the financial system?
1. Evolution to Date
Following the analogy of "read, write, own", Web 4.0 will enter the era of "evolution".
The development of the internet reflects humanity's relentless pursuit of digital autonomy and collective coordination. The Web 1.0 era democratized information access, but still maintained the traditional publishing hierarchy, where users could only passively "read".
Web 2.0 brought about the first thorough transformation, introducing large-scale dynamic content generation and social interaction. However, the promise of democratization ultimately gave way to platform monopolies, with users' creative content and personal data becoming the raw materials of surveillance capitalism, and a few companies becoming the de facto custodians of our digital lives.
The Web 3.0 revolution originated from the resistance to this centralization of digital power. Bitcoin's innovation not only created a digital currency, but also demonstrated the possibility of trustless coordination without institutional intermediaries. A wave of innovations followed: Colored Coins proved that Tokens can represent any form of value; smart contracts enabled programmable trust; "crypto" marked the era of widespread speculation; and DeFi redefined financial services.
Each era has brought us closer to the true vision, but has also gradually deviated from the original spirit. We have built the infrastructure for trustless coordination, yet it is filled with new trust intermediaries; we have promised decentralization, yet have created new power centers. The core challenge facing Web3 is not technological, but sociological. The "Web3" promise of user ownership has been dominated by speculation and artificial scarcity, benefiting the few and harming the many. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), originally intended to enable digital ownership and support the creator economy, have become speculative tools; DeFi protocols, meant to provide inclusive financial services, have often replicated traditional financial structures, increasing complexity and risk. This movement, which began with liberation, has ironically become another form of capitalism, benefiting only a few.
It is time for a fundamental transformation. The fusion of trustless networks and AI provides us with unprecedented opportunities - not just to iterate, but to evolve. Looking ahead, the next stage of the internet must return to its roots. The path forward requires a return to the original spirit of the crypto movement: creating systems that can enhance human autonomy and foster new forms of coordination. This means building infrastructure that prioritizes accessibility over complexity, actual utility over potential value, and true decentralization over simple disintermediation.
2. The Turning Point
We stand at a critical intersection, where two technological revolutions converge: the fusion of trustless networks and artificial intelligence. This is not just about having AI manage wallets or optimize DeFi strategies, but about a more fundamental transformation: the birth of truly autonomous networks.
Imagine these network components imbued with genuine intelligence:
Smart contracts that can learn and adapt based on their execution history
Consensus mechanisms maintained by trusted AI agents through verifiable protocols
Adaptive security frameworks that can automatically adjust to emerging threats
DAOs with embedded AI agents that can reason about governance issues
Tokens that represent not only value, but also computational capacity and intelligence
This is not just AI serving Web3, but the rise of autonomous networks - networks that can grow, adapt, evolve, and always adhere to a set of verifiable rules to ensure fairness and integrity.
By leveraging the transformative power of AI within a transparent, decentralized framework, we are building systems that are aligned with the collective interests of humanity. Welcome to Web 4.0, the truly decentralized future, where justice is not just a promise, but deeply embedded in the core of intelligent autonomous systems.
3. Welcome to Web 4.0: The Era of Evolution
Illustration: Trustworthy, verifiable, and fully autonomous nodes interacting with humans in Web 4.0
Web3 taught us "ownership", and Web4 will teach us "evolution". In Web3, we asked "whose is this?", while in Web4, we ask "how will this grow?"
This shift is from static ownership to dynamic development, from holding value to generating intelligence, from protecting assets to nurturing growth. In Web4, evolution unfolds on multiple levels:
1) Protocol Evolution
Energy-efficient protocols with minimal environmental impact
Consensus mechanisms that can adapt to changing environments
Democratically governed by human oversight
2) Agent Evolution
Trustworthy, verifiable autonomous systems driving intelligent nodes
AI entities that can learn from interactions and collective experiences
Guided by ethical frameworks
3) Network Evolution
Emergent behaviors from the interactions of intelligent agents
Competitive behaviors constrained by fair rules
Self-organizing systems optimized for collective intelligence
4. The Path Forward
This transformation will not happen overnight, but will unfold in stages:
1) Integration Phase: AI-driven protocols and agents managing the existing Web3 infrastructure
2) Awakening Phase: Developing truly autonomous, AI-driven network nodes
3) Emergence Phase: The rise of self-evolving networks and intelligent digital lifeforms
4) Evolution Phase: New forms of collaboration between humans and AI
This paradigm shift is far more than a simple rebranding or version iteration; we are laying the foundations for a profound transformation, creating something that transcends a new financial system or a new internet.
In Web 4.0, we are leading the seamless fusion of trustless networks and artificial intelligence, a fusion that will fundamentally reshape the way society is organized, coordinated, and evolved. This symbiotic relationship between "human wisdom and artificial intelligence" based on transparent and decentralized protocols promises to open up entirely new realms of possibility for human cooperation and progress.
5. Conclusion
Web 4.0 is not just another technological advancement, but the beginning of a profound transformation: a truly "living" network, one that can grow, evolve, and possess its own intelligence and consciousness.
This is an opportunity to create extraordinary things: a digital ecosystem that co-evolves with humanity, enhancing human capabilities while developing its own. They are no longer just tools for human use, but partners in a shared evolution.
The future is no longer about owning digital assets, but about participating in the evolution of intelligence itself.
