How Intellectual Property Looks Like in the AI Agent Era

Introduction: How AI Agents Impact Intellectual Property

Generative and agentic AI are disrupting the digital economy, overshadowing human-created work on social platforms and bypassing creators through AI-powered search engines.

This raises a crucial question: what incentive is there to share original work in a system that fails to value creativity?

What Is Intellectual Property (IP)?

IP goes far beyond films, music, and other works of art. It represents human creativity. It has fueled innovation, driven revolutions in technology, and shaped human history.

However, generative AI has put traditional IP models under significant strain, as AI systems consume vast amounts of data, yet fail to compensate the creators. This undermines the creative ecosystem.

Why the Need for Blockchain in IP?

1. The Backbone of AI Capabilities

AI agents depend on licensed data, proprietary models and algorithms to learn, make decisions and execute tasks. From curated datasets to distinctive creative styles, IP acts as a foundation, supporting the skills, knowledge, and outputs that AI systems generate, making it a critical component of their functionality.

2. Enabling Autonomous Interactions

As AI agents increasingly engage in independent activities, such as licensing assets, negotiating agreements, and producing derivative works, robust IP frameworks are essential to automate licensing, ensure compliance, and enable the equitable distribution of royalties.

3. A Catalyst for Innovation and Collaboration

IP recognises and rewards individual creations and contributions, fueling further innovations that benefit creators and consumers alike.

4. Tokenising Value

IP is being reimagined as a tokenised asset that can be staked, traded, or bundled, unlocking liquidity and revenue streams for creators, businesses, and even AI agents.

Challenges of Traditional IP Management

1. Inefficient Licensing Processes

Licensing and enforcing IP is often costly and complex, requiring lengthy negotiations between legal teams and intermediaries. These inefficiencies can slow innovation and limit IP access for smaller creators and businesses.

2. Lack of Transparency and Tracking

Conventional IP systems make it difficult to track how IP is used, modified, or monetised. This opacity often leads to disputes and unpaid royalties for creators and stakeholders.

3. Obstacles to Collaborative Creation

Traditional IP frameworks are poorly equipped to handle multi-party collaborations, especially when derivative works are derived from involve inputs from both human and AI agent inputs. Disputes around attribution and revenue distribution could then create barriers to joint innovation.

Conclusion

Blockchain offers a transformative solution to traditional IP management by way of tokenisation. With more secure ownership, automated licensing, and transparent royalty distribution, this protects creativity from exploitation and ensures fair compensation, supporting creative works and fostering a sustainable digital economy.

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*Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other form of professional advice. aelf makes no guarantees or warranties about the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information on this blog. You should not make any investment decisions based solely on the information provided on this blog. You should always consult with a qualified financial or legal advisor before making any investment decisions.

What's aelf Ventures?

aelf Ventures is the investment arm of aelf, a high-performance Layer 1 AI blockchain platform that offers builders and users advanced AI functionalities and cutting-edge infrastructure. With a dedicated fund of $50 million, aelf Ventures is focused on empowering Layer 1 blockchain projects and various aspects of the Web3 ecosystem, such as DeFi, GameFi, NFT, and those looking to make the transition from Web2 to Web3.

Till date, aelf Ventures has invested in projects such Crystal Fun and Confiction Labs (pka. Mythic Protocol), and is actively incubating promising ventures within the ecosystem such as Portkey, eBridge, Forest NFT Marketplace, AwakenSwap, eWell, and BeanGoTown.

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Tool/Platform	What's it about
ChainGPT	An AI-powered assistant for the blockchain and crypto industry, specializing in content creation, language translation, smart contract coding, and more.
aelf	A high-performance, customisable multi-chain blockchain framework with AI-powered smart contracts and a developer-friendly environment.
Quick Intel	An AI-powered crypto security platform that helps investors avoid scams, rug pulls, and honeypots by analysing smart contracts, social sentiment, and on-chain data.
Cogwise AI News Aggregator	An AI-powered news aggregator that analyses real-time news and global trends to predict market movements in the crypto market.
OpenAI Codex	An AI system that transforms natural language into code, automating code creation for smart contracts, blockchain applications, and other development tasks.
QnA3	An AI-powered Web3 knowledge hub that provides real-time information and insights on cryptocurrencies, blockchain projects, and the broader Web3 ecosystem, with unique Solana Actions integrations.
Fetch.ai	A platform that combines AI and blockchain to create autonomous economic agents (AEAs) for various applications, including supply chain optimisation and smart city management.
Octavia	A decentralised digital identity (DID) platform for creating and managing self-sovereign digital identities, empowering users to control their data and online presence.
TensorFlow	A versatile open-source machine learning framework used for building AI models that can analyse blockchain data, enhance security, and predict market trends.
Alethea	A platform that creates 'Intelligent NFTs' (iNFTs) with unique personalities and the ability to engage in conversations, powered by AI and blockchain technology.

Chain	URL	Explorer
AELF	https://aelf-test-node.aelf.io/	https://explorer-test.aelf.io/
tDVW	https://tdvw-test-node.aelf.io/	https://explorer-test-side02.aelf.io/

Feature	Description
Inheritance	ERC-404 inherits from the interfaces IERC-404, IERC721 Receiver, and IERC165, implementing functions specified in these interfaces, behaving as both ERC20 and ERC721.
Data Structures	Mappings track balances, allowances, approvals, and ownership of tokens. Double-ended queue stores ERC721 token IDs. Data for managing ownership and indices of ERC721 tokens.
Constructor	Initialises token name, symbol, decimals, and other necessary variables for ERC20 and ERC721 tokens.
Token Minting and Burning	_mintERC20 function for minting ERC20 tokens. _retrieveOrMintERC721 function for minting ERC721 tokens and retrieving from a bank. _withdrawAndStoreERC721 function for depositing ERC721 tokens into the bank.
Transfers	Functions for transferring ERC20 and ERC271 tokens between addresses. Distinguishes between token types based on ID. _transferERC20WithERC721 function handles transfers involving both types.
ERC20 and ERC721 Interactions	Approve function handles approvals for both token types. Functions like transferFrom, safeTransferFrom, and permit handle transfers and approvals.
EIP-2612 Support	Supports EIP-2612 permit functionality for ERC20 tokens.
Interface Compatibility	Implements necessary functions for ERC-404 and ERC165 interfaces, indicating compatibility with ERC20 and ERC721 standards.

Role	Max Number
BP	2N+1, N starts from 8 in 2022
Candidate node	5*(2N+1)
Voter	No limit

Benefits	Description
Makes smart contracts 'smarter'	AI-driven smart contracts can autonomously modify terms based on predefined conditions and real-time data input, ensuring that the contracts are not just automated but also intelligent and self-improving over time.
Levelled up data analysis	Data is the new oil, and AI is the machinery that refines it. It is possible for AI to reduce large-volume blockchain data analysis time by up to 90%.
Boosts security	Through machine learning models, AI can prevent frauds and detect security threats in real time. It can identify potential breaches, predict future threats, and adapt to evolving security measures.
Lowers carbon footprint	AI algorithms help optimise energy consumption in blockchain operations, given the flak drawn by activities like Bitcoin mining.

Intellectual Property in the AI Agentic Era | aelf Ventures