How AI and Blockchain Are Transforming Industries and Creating New Opportunities for Innovation and Growth

The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology is transforming business models across various industries, unlocking new opportunities for innovation and growth. From financial services to real estate, AI is reshaping traditional practices, enabling businesses to offer new services and streamline operations.

AI Impacts Financial Inclusion, Real Estate Sales Processes

One of the most significant impacts of AI in the financial sector is its ability to provide financial services to underserved populations. Traditional banking systems often rely on factors like credit scores and IDs to determine eligibility for loans or accounts. However, many individuals, especially in developing regions, lack access to these credentials, leaving them excluded from the financial system.

AI is bridging this gap by offering innovative solutions that allow financial institutions to assess the creditworthiness of individuals without traditional forms of identification.

As Gian Paulo Dela Rama, Chief Product Officer and Head of Sprout AI Labs at Sprout Solutions, explained at the Futureproof Tech Summit 2024 in Mandaluyong, Philippines, “For finance, one of the most important things that it’s doing for the sector is banking the unbanked. So, people who don’t have access to credit, who do not have access to IDs—your traditional sources of bank applications—using AI tools, you can now credit score these individuals. So they will now be eligible for financial services they normally wouldn’t have.”

This democratization of financial services is significant for those living in regions with limited banking infrastructure, as AI enables financial institutions to expand their reach to previously excluded populations.

AI also helps enhance sales processes in the real estate sector rather than replacing real estate agents. By using AI tools to identify the key skills of salespeople, real estate firms can optimize their teams for better performance.

“In real estate, AI is helping… by identifying the real skills of the salespeople. So if you’re a closer, then you’re hired as that. But then the other parts, you can just, automate that,” Valerie Fischer, co-founder of AI Business Solutions, shared. This shift allows companies to automate routine tasks while focusing on hiring individuals with specialized skills like closing deals, which is a key aspect of sales success. In this context, AI serves as an enabler of human talent rather than a replacement.

AI Integration Challenges: Data Quality, High Costs

While AI provides new solutions across industries, its full potential is often limited by the need for accurate and transparent data. AI systems are typically trained on massive amounts of data, but verifying the quality and authenticity of this data can be a challenge.

Blockchain technology, with its immutable and transparent ledger, has the potential to address this issue by ensuring that the data feeding into AI systems is both trustworthy and verifiable.

“A big problem with AI now is that it ingests so much data to train. There’s really no way for us to verify if what is coming in is actually garbage or not. If there’s a blockchain-like way of ingesting the data, having the data checked beforehand, having the data verified… that will help a lot,” Dela Rama said.

Moreover, blockchain solves the high costs associated with training AI models. By decentralizing the training process, blockchain enables distributed systems to share the computational burden. Paolo Caperig, Senior Business Development Manager at Kaia DLT Foundation, noted, “With blockchain, you can decentralize the training of the models… even the devices can be used as training hubs.” This could make AI development more cost-effective and scalable, reducing the barriers to entry for small businesses and startups.