Korok Ray, an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School and a prominent Bitcoin researcher, has announced the forthcoming establishment of The Bitcoin Research Institute. This initiative aims to foster academic exploration at the intersection of Bitcoin technology and artificial intelligence (AI).
Ray introduced his vision at the MicroStrategy World: Bitcoin for Corporations 2024 event, highlighting Bitcoin’s potential role in facilitating secure multi-party computation (MPC). He illustrated this concept using the examples of poker players reaching a consensus on a game’s state as a rudimentary form of computation.
Expanding on this idea, Ray envisioned scenarios involving deep neural networks and agent-based reinforcement learning, where AI entities can collaboratively execute computations within the framework of the Bitcoin blockchain. He referenced recent Bitcoin ecosystem advancements like BITVM, enabling off-chain Turing complete computations (such as MPC) to be validated on Bitcoin.
Ray’s thesis, “The Undiscovered Country,” posits that Bitcoin’s future lies in machine-to-machine interactions rather than a human-centric use case. He emphasised the need for deep integration between machines and the Bitcoin network as a pivotal opportunity amidst rapid technological progress.
The Bitcoin Research Institute aims to bridge the realms of Bitcoin and AI research, leveraging top-tier academic talent to propel these innovations forward. Ray expressed enthusiasm about connecting diverse areas of research and development to realise the potential synergy between Bitcoin and cutting-edge AI advancements.
In addition to exploring secure prediction markets and Chaumian mints for scaling Bitcoin payments, Ray underscored the transformative impact of academic contributions to computer science, which laid the groundwork for Bitcoin and AI. He envisioned a future where these disciplines converge to drive innovation across various economic sectors.