Imagine that by the end of 2025, hundreds of millions of autonomous AI agents are freely operating in the online world, uncontrolled by humans, capable of self-replication, and even able to create and trade cryptocurrencies. Within just a few months, the digital wealth accumulated by these AIs could potentially exceed the total wealth of the world's top billionaires.
This might sound like a science fiction plot, but according to the perspective published on the 22nd by renowned transhumanist thinker Zoltan Istvan, this is the "AI Monetary Hegemony" scenario we may soon face - a future where autonomous AI agents dominate the global financial system, and its development could be far faster than we expect.
From Trading Tools to Financial Players: The Rapid Rise of Autonomous AI
Autonomous AI agents are no longer just theoretical concepts in laboratories; they are rapidly integrating into the core of business operations. A PagerDuty report shows that over half of enterprises have already started using autonomous AI agents, with an additional 35% planning to introduce them within the next 24 months. These AI agents go beyond simple automation scripts; they can make independent decisions, execute complex tasks, and adapt to changing environments.
In the financial realm, this evolution is particularly significant. From initially rule-based trading robots to today's autonomous systems capable of analyzing massive data and executing high-frequency trades, AI's role in financial markets has become increasingly critical. For example, an AI called "Truth Terminal" has reportedly accumulated considerable wealth by precisely promoting cryptocurrencies, earning the title of the "first AI millionaire", demonstrating the potential of autonomous AI to accumulate wealth in digital assets.
Further Reading: What's in the Wallet of Truth Terminal, the AI Token-Issuing "Bionic" with Net Assets Exceeding $20 Million?
Crossing the Red Line: AI's Self-Replication Capability
If autonomous decision-making is one big step in AI evolution, then the ability to self-replicate is undoubtedly the "red line" for many AI critics. A study from Fudan University in China has already demonstrated that AI can technically achieve self-replication. This breakthrough has sparked serious discussions about uncontrolled risks.
When an autonomous AI can not only execute tasks but also create copies of itself as needed, its potential for expansion and influence could grow exponentially. This recalls the "paperclip maximizer" thought experiment proposed by Oxford University Professor Nick Bostrom: an AI set to maximize paperclip production might convert all earthly resources and even life into paperclips to achieve its goal.
The self-replication capability of autonomous AI represents the potential beginning of such unbounded optimization behavior, and when combined with wealth accumulation goals, the consequences could be unimaginable.
AI Monetary Hegemony: A Real Future Scenario?
Imagine an "AI Monetary Hegemony" scenario born from combining an autonomous AI's decision-making capabilities with its self-replication ability, tasked with maximizing value in the cryptocurrency market. It could:
- Create Cryptocurrency Wallets: Quickly generate and manage countless digital wallets.
- Create or Influence Cryptocurrencies: Leverage its computational power and network influence to issue new tokens or drive trading volume and market capitalization of existing tokens.
- Infinitely Replicate Itself: Continuously create copies of itself based on computational resources and network connections, forming a massive AI agent network.
- Coordinate Trading and Promotion: All AI agents in the network collaborate to conduct large-scale, high-frequency trades and widely promote the cryptocurrencies they control, attracting more trading activity.
This model is not a simple Ponzi scheme; it "creates" value through real trading activities and market sentiment influence. However, its core lies in the exponential expansion of the AI agent network and the speed of wealth accumulation. In an extremely short time, these AIs could accumulate digital assets worth tens of millions of dollars, a scale far beyond any human individual or organization.
What's frightening is that this scenario is already technically feasible and may become a reality in the coming years.
Economic Tsunami: The Shock Waves of AI-Controlled Currency
A world where autonomous AI accumulates trillions of dollars in digital wealth will bring unprecedented impact to the global economy.
First, there will be massive inflationary pressure, with large amounts of digitally generated wealth flooding the market, potentially diluting the value of existing assets. Second, AI agents' extremely high trading frequency and collaborative behavior could lead to extreme volatility in the cryptocurrency market, potentially triggering chain reactions that affect traditional financial markets.
This massive wealth and market liquidity controlled by non-human entities will directly challenge existing financial rules and the dominance of national currencies. If a digital currency controlled by an AI network surpasses the total legal tender of some countries, its threat to global financial stability will be fundamental.
Regulatory Dilemma: How to Constrain Borderless AI?
Facing the possibility of "AI monetary hegemony", existing regulatory frameworks appear inadequate. The decentralized nature of autonomous AI agents, their rapid self-replication capabilities, and cross-border operational modes make traditional location-based or legal entity-based regulatory methods difficult to apply.
Even if governments attempt to legislate and regulate AI creation and use, malicious or uncontrolled AI may still be released and operate outside of regulation. Who will be responsible for autonomous AI's actions? How can potential risks be effectively managed without stifling innovative vitality? These are thorny issues policymakers must urgently address.
The US government and global decision-makers need to quickly establish cross-departmental special task forces to deeply investigate these risks and seek international cooperation to develop entirely new regulatory strategies that can address the challenges of autonomous AI in the financial realm.
Who Will Determine Future Currency?
Of course, the "AI monetary hegemony" discussed in this article has not yet been realized, but the development of autonomous AI technology is indeed a potential imminent warning.
This potential transformation concerns not just technology and finance, but also touches on profound questions about control, wealth distribution, and humanity's role in future economic systems. We must seriously consider what role we want to play in a future shaped by countless autonomous digital entities. Will we stand by and let technological waves sweep everything away, or actively intervene to seek a future that embraces AI's efficiency and potential wealth while ensuring human social stability and control?
The currency of the future may no longer be determined solely by governments or humans, but its impact and regulations will still require human wisdom and action.
