Opinion by: Adrian Brink, co-founder of Anoma
Web3 is built on principles of decentralization, sovereignty, verifiability, and resilience. These foundational values are now at risk. The emergence of AI agents is both beneficial and unavoidable. However, if these agents are not constructed on sovereign, intent-focused infrastructure, they threaten the integrity of crypto values.
The incorporation of intents goes beyond enhancing user experience; it’s essential for empowering agents to achieve their potential without compromising the essence of Web3.
AI agents can facilitate smoother and more intuitive blockchain interactions, yet the current form of these agents introduces significant security risks and conflicts with Web3 principles. Present-day agents rely on opaque large-language models (LLMs) that lack verifiability and are susceptible to inaccuracies, raising concerns about handling sensitive financial information.
Privacy is non-negotiable
These agents are constructed on centralized frameworks with unclear operational systems, leading to a lack of control over user privacy and data sovereignty. They operate on proprietary algorithms from companies like IBM and OpenAI, threatening to replicate Web2 power structures within the crypto landscape.
By incorporating agents with intent-focused systems, we can ensure that users have complete control over their data and assets.
Intents act as foundational elements for decentralized applications, granting users full authority over transaction outcomes. Supported by a decentralized network of solvers, these agentic nodes compete to resolve user transactions while simplifying the blockchain experience and safeguarding user sovereignty and privacy throughout.
Related: Intents address crypto’s UX dilemma and pave the way for agent-driven DeFi
Intent-based systems provide all the user experience advantages of AI agents while preserving user sovereignty and ensuring desired outcomes.
The centralization trap
Lacking intents, AI agents pose significant risks of centralization. As agent-based solutions gain traction, the potential for centralization and market consolidation increases dramatically.
If there isn’t a diverse, decentralized marketplace for agents—where independent agents compete for user engagement—we risk specific LLMs becoming monopolies dominating all order flow.
Intent-focused infrastructure can support decentralized, interoperable agent marketplaces that prevent the emergence of a single mega-agent. In these ecosystems, agents communicate, specialize in particular transaction types, share order flows, compete to fulfill user needs, and, crucially, are accountable for their outcomes.
Realizing the full potential of AI agents
In addition to securing privacy, decentralization, and verifiability, intents will empower agents to unlock their full capabilities. While contemporary agents exist largely in silos, intents can provide a common language for agent communication and interoperability. Communication between agents via intents is crucial for facilitating trade and executing intricate, multi-step user operations.
With generalized intents, agents can handle any user request more efficiently, including complex, multi-step tasks and cross-chain transactions. This advancement could herald new application types, elevating decentralized finance (DeFi) beyond current offerings, while delivering user experiences that rival Web2.
A match made in DeFi heaven
The synergy of AI agents and intents will reshape the Web3 landscape while adhering to its fundamental values. Intents connect users and agents, providing the expected UX enhancements from AI while upholding decentralization, sovereignty, and verifiability. Intent-based frameworks will be vital for the forthcoming phase of Web3’s growth by ensuring agents prioritize users’ interests.
As AI adoption rises, so too does the risk of repeating Web2 problems in Web3. Intent-centric frameworks are essential for addressing the challenges and prospects posed by AI agents and unlocking their complete potential. Intents will emerge as crucial infrastructural elements necessary for anyone integrating or contemplating integration of AI into DeFi.
Intents are not just an upgrade to user experience or a nice-to-have feature. They are essential infrastructure to guarantee that AI serves users rather than entrenched powers. The quicker the industry embraces them, the higher the chances of maintaining a decentralized, open future.
Opinion by: Adrian Brink, co-founder of Anoma.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not intended to be legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
