How AI-powered smart contracts shape the future of social networks

ICX, a blockchain-based social network, is poised to address social networks’ fundamental problems through enhanced privacy and user ownership by integrating AI into smart contracts.

Data reveals that 62% of the global population has at least one social media account. However, social networks face challenges such as privacy concerns, misinformation distribution and algorithmic biases.

It is a known fact that centralized social networks make money by selling their users' data. On the other hand, the monopolization of the social media space by a few dominant companies such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is another hot topic.

The good news is that blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can potentially relieve social networks’ pain points. Blockchain’s encryption capabilities can address privacy issues, and AI technologies can tackle the remaining challenges.

Embedding AI within smart contracts

ICX , a decentralized social network, aims to facilitate online social interactions and the exchange of information among users via blockchain-based innovations. The platform’s primary goal is to advance communication models featuring enhanced privacy, ownership and community-driven governance.

All user data on the network, including posts, images and videos, is stored on-chain. Therefore, users have full ownership and control over their data in accordance with the fundamental principles of privacy and user autonomy.

ICX is being developed on the Internet Computer (ICP) blockchain, a decentralized computing platform that allows software to run without traditional web servers. By leveraging the capabilities of the IC blockchain, ICX is set to embed AI within smart contracts — self-executing agreement codes.

The Web3 social network is also planning to integrate large language models (LLMs) — AI programs that can recognize and generate humanlike text — to provide users with features like digital clones.

Sophisticated features with democratic governance

In addition to AI-driven innovations, ICX wants to differentiate itself from traditional social platforms by giving its community approval power. In the upcoming release, ICX will be governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) — a structure run by member votes without central authority.

ICX developers suggest the DAO model will allow advanced crypto features to be used

With the DAO model, any significant updates or changes to ICX's decentralized application (DApp) will occur following a voting process. Users who want to participate in governance — also called neurons — need to lock their ICX tokens into the network to gain voting rights.

The democratic governance framework will also enable sophisticated features such as ragequitting. Ragequitting is a feature that enables DAO members to exit the DAO by burning tokens and withdrawing their share of the treasury.

“Robots and AI can guide us”

As part of the development phases, ICX is preparing to release proof of concept, which is a preliminary demonstration used to confirm that certain theories have the potential to be developed.

In the first release, the platform will leverage AI to test new forms of social interaction. ICX's goal, which will evaluate initial reactions and feedback from users, is to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of AI in improving social networking experiences.

How integrating AI into social communication works. Source: ICX

Once the proof of concept receives positive feedback, the platform will move all its functionality on-chain and become fully decentralized, adhering to the principles of the Internet Computer blockchain protocol.

Aiming to transform the way people interact both online and offline, ICX argues that a better future can be built on the basis of AI-supported social networks. "We envision a future free from endless social feed scrolling, where humans connect more in the real world," ICX founder Marcio says, adding: "I believe robots and AI can guide us towards this paradise."

As traditional models come under increasing scrutiny for invading privacy and commoditizing data, the application of decentralized technologies presents a promising alternative. While the digital landscape evolves, the fusion of blockchain and AI may well redefine the foundational structures of social networking, steering it toward a more secure and user-centric future.