Why do AI applications resonate more with users than crypto applications?
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Why do AI applications resonate more with users than crypto applications?
AI has fully taken over and seamlessly integrated into our daily lives, becoming an indispensable part.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: rm
Translation: TechFlow
I'm in San Francisco today, and yesterday I hopped into a Waymo driverless taxi once again—struck by how accustomed I've become to riding without a human driver. When you stop to think about it, it's truly astonishing: something that recently felt like science fiction has now become part of everyday life—at least here. We’re already living in a future where autonomous vehicles cruise the streets effortlessly, and it’s no longer even remarkable.
It's not just the cars that are evolving—we are too. We’ve almost imperceptibly adapted to a world where the extraordinary becomes ordinary. Technologies once deemed fantastical are now woven into the fabric of daily existence. This shift illustrates how the future quietly integrates into the mundane, revealing both where we're headed and the nature of technological progress itself.
The internet is like that self-driving car—it's already running, powered by AI, delivering tangible and concrete results. AI isn’t just emerging; it has already taken over, seamlessly embedded into our daily routines as an indispensable component. Meanwhile, blockchain remains behind the scenes, still striving to prove it deserves a place on the road.
AI is the powerful engine driving this journey. It’s personalized, effective, and real. Whether it’s Claude, ChatGPT, Midjourney, or the latest AI tools, AI captured our imagination from the start and has delivered on many of its promises. There’s a strong, almost magical connection when AI understands you, anticipates your needs, or generates something that didn’t exist moments before. This experience makes the future feel within reach. Despite glitches and occasional delays, it allows us to envision what might come next.
In contrast, blockchain feels more academic and theoretical—a potential yet to be widely realized in everyday life. It’s like an electric motor without its Tesla or Prius: an impressive piece of technology still searching for practical applications beyond ideological promises. We hear pledges of decentralization, transparency, and new forms of trust, but these remain abstract and distant. To the average person in the West, blockchain often feels like a solution in search of a problem, rather than a tool that simplifies life. That’s not to say blockchain isn’t useful or impactful in certain contexts—look at how stablecoins have gained traction in regions suffering from hyperinflation. Yet even then, people care about the stablecoin itself, not the underlying blockchain technology.
Let’s extend the analogy. Imagine the self-driving car represents the future of the internet—smoothly and effortlessly reaching its destination. What powers it? Think of it as an electric skateboard—a platform with wheels and a battery, forming its basic structure. Blockchain resembles such an electric skateboard: a powerful, innovative foundation with immense potential. But without compelling use cases and suitable applications, it remains merely a platform awaiting transformation. Especially because, like early electric vehicles, it hasn't yet reached full parity with established technologies. In daily use, due to practical constraints, internal combustion engines and hybrids often remain the better choice.
People don’t buy electric cars solely because the engine is advanced. Some choose EVs because they believe in a technologically optimistic future; others are drawn by climate narratives, aiming to reduce emissions and move toward sustainability. And some simply want the newest, coolest product on the market. Motivations vary, but ultimately everyone wants the same outcome: efficient travel from point A to point B, with minimal hassle (just as AI reduces the effort of driving). Blockchain must find ways to deliver similarly clear value—it must become as efficient and practical as the centralized cloud services we already rely on, an essential part of daily life. In everyday decisions, ideology alone rarely suffices; unless faced with extreme hardship (like hyperinflation), choices tend to be driven by convenience, perceived utility, or treated as toys or luxuries.
The issue is that blockchain still lacks the everyday infrastructure needed to truly take off. Just as electric vehicles require charging stations on every corner, blockchain needs the same kind of practical, day-to-day support—a network of seamless services and tools that integrate smoothly into our lives. We need more than just the technology—we need roads, traffic signs, gas stations for the blockchain world—user-friendly applications, seamlessly integrated systems that quietly become part of our daily routines. The goal is to make blockchain as commonplace and necessary as Wi-Fi or smartphones—something invisible yet essential in everyday life. But this shift won’t happen overnight. It requires abstraction and the concealment of all the complexity and responsibility that often accompany new technologies. We want daily tasks to become simpler, not more burdensome.
Blockchain needs its "Tesla Model 3" moment—a breakthrough that not only proves the technology’s value but also makes it feel attractive and practical to the mainstream. Only then will blockchain cease to be the domain of tech elites, ideologically motivated adopters, or those facing dire circumstances who are willing to endure complex setups—and instead become accessible to everyone. Until then, we should focus on building solutions that matter today, rather than chasing distant dreams. Because while we wait for the breakthrough, let’s not forget that the Prius—a hybrid bridging old and new—remained highly successful. The future of blockchain may well depend on first finding a practical, user-friendly middle ground before entering mass adoption.
Don’t overlook the factors that truly drive us in daily life. Viewing blockchain as the electric skateboard under the hood—full of potential, yet needing the right vehicle to make an impact on the road—is cool, inspiring, and necessary. The future may be filled with autonomous cars, but the engine underneath determines how far and fast we can go. Yet for now, we remain in transition—where electric, hybrid, or even internal combustion engines represent different decision-making realities compared to the simple desire to get from point A to point B.
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