David Holtzman — a former military intelligence professional, author, White House advisor, and chief strategy officer of the Naoris decentralized security protocol — recently told Cointelegraph that centralized data systems invite abuse from state and corporate actors due to their single point of control.
“The whole problem with centralized systems is that there’s a center,” Holtzman said in an interview. According to the executive, the security of centralized systems is further threatened by advances in artificial intelligence and quantum computers.
Both threats can be mitigated, the Naoris executive said. Decentralizing AI through blockchain adds a human check against AI, and quantum-resistant algorithms can shield private data. However, the threat of concentrated institutional power remains an issue, Holtzman said:
“I think humanity is due for a bit of a shakeup because we’ve given too much power to institutions in the last 50 years — not just the military either. Corporations have an astonishing amount of power in most Western countries right now that they didn’t have in the 1950s and 1960s.”
Decentralizing data information systems has become a critical security problem as quantum computers threaten to break the encryption standards used in digital finance, banking, the healthcare system, and even military intelligence.
Related: Google unveils new quantum computing chip: Clock ticking for crypto encryption?
Decentralization as a hedge against paradigm-shifting technology
Privacy-preserving blockchain protocols and institutions are exploring privacy protection solutions, as the world prepares for a future where generalized artificial intelligence and scalable quantum computers are a reality.
Avidan Abitbol, the project director for the Data Ownership Protocol, recently told Cointelegraph that institutions won’t embrace Web3 without privacy.
The Web3 executive said that selective disclosure through zero-knowledge proofs is a solution to protect data, which would otherwise be onchain and highly susceptible to tracking by threat actors.
Executives from decentralized AI developer Onicai voiced concerns over artificial intelligence products from big tech companies in November 2024.
The developers argued that decentralized AI was key for self-sovereignty and to ensure that AI products worked on behalf of individuals — not corporations or large institutions launching projects with closed source codes.
Evin McMullen, co-founder of Privado ID — a decentralized identity solution — also highlighted the threat of biometric data exposure to centralized third-party service providers that work with big tech companies.
The Privado ID co-founder said that selective disclosure of biometric identifiers makes sensitive data available on a need-to-know basis, controlled entirely by the individual who owns the biometric data.
Magazine: Advanced AI system is already ‘self-aware’ — ASI Alliance founder
