Rob Haddick, General Partner at Dragonfly, and David Pakman, Managing Director at CoinFund, expressed doubts about the ability of decentralized AI to disrupt the dominance of centralized alternatives during the Emergence conference.

“Cryptoassets struggle with taking things that work really well off-chain, making them worse by integrating them onto the blockchain, and selling them to people already in the ecosystem,” said Haddick.

AI’s Role in Web3 Development

Participants agreed that the greatest value AI can bring to the crypto industry lies in aiding developers with writing code, as software creation remains a core element of the digital asset ecosystem.

“AI is a massive software and technical revolution. We create a lot of software in Web3, and we should leverage neural networks across various decentralized applications in infrastructure, security, and user product behavior,” Pakman emphasized.

While Pakman acknowledged the challenges decentralized AI faces in competing with centralized systems, he commended developers working toward creating alternative frameworks.

Skepticism Toward AI Agents

Some conference attendees showed enthusiasm for AI agents, programs designed to perform complex tasks autonomously. Haddick, however, voiced skepticism, likening the current hype to the interest in GameFi projects during 2021.

“Tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto venture capital will pour into this space. Almost all of it will lose money,” he predicted.

Pakman disagreed, highlighting the potential synergy between AI and cryptocurrency. He pointed out that neural networks could simplify money interactions, enabling autonomous payments on behalf of users. “Cryptocurrency is the ideal tool for transactions between agents and humans,” he noted.

AI and Blockchain Integration

Despite differing opinions, both speakers acknowledged that the intersection of AI and blockchain could shape the future. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz recently identified AI integration as a key trend for the crypto industry in 2025.

The potential for collaboration between AI and blockchain remains a topic of active debate, with varying perspectives on its scalability and real-world impact.