Is it possible for a communication app to be completely decentralized?

When Facebook announced its acquisition of WhatsApp a few years ago, a large group of people vowed to collectively switch to different communication platforms due to privacy concerns. However, in reality, this event did not have a significant impact on WhatsApp, which remains the most widely used communication software globally. I believe the biggest reason for this is that the most valuable thing in society is a person's "trustworthiness," and WhatsApp currently has the most advantages in terms of price threshold, user penetration rate, and identity verification credibility.

It is not new to mix artificial intelligence with communication apps. Discord, Facebook Messenger, and Line have already incorporated these AI features. Now, with ChatGPT 4, additional features such as internet connectivity and other plugins have been added. In the near future, it is expected that this powerful LLM technology will be integrated into communication apps. At that time, we may not even know if we are communicating with a real person or an AI. Behind all this, who will be analyzing our conversations and information?

Based on human suspicion and caution, can we truly decentralize these communication apps and achieve true "voice to the people"?

Communication speed is the core of civilization progress

Many people know that GPT-3 actually came out in 2020, and this technology has become popular in less than 3 years. The speed of communication between people and the speed of obtaining and processing information are often important factors driving technology and even civilization. Let's first look at the simple milestones of technology. With reference to the time when technologies such as telephones, computers, the internet, game consoles, smartphones, blockchains, smart contracts, and artificial intelligence appeared:

• In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell successfully invented the first practical telephone.

• In 1877, Bell Telephone Company, which later became American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), introduced the first home telephone called "Bell's Home Telephone".

• In 1945, mathematician Alan Turing from the UK and computer pioneer John von Neumann from the US designed the first truly computer called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer).

• In 1950, scientists began researching how to simulate human thinking processes with machines, and the earliest year for the emergence of artificial intelligence is generally considered to be around 1950.

• In 1960, the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) launched a program called ARPANET, which aimed to establish a distributed computer network for sharing information and resources between research institutions and universities.

• In 1969, the first ARPANET link was established.

• In 1970, the first truly desktop computer was developed and launched by Xerox Alto. However, its popularity was very limited and it was only used in a few research institutions and large companies.

• In 1973, the first truly portable phone was invented by Martin Cooper, an engineer at Motorola. The phone was called the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, which had only one button and a simple LCD screen, but it was a very advanced product for its time.

• In 1977, the first truly personal computer was introduced by Apple Inc. called the Apple II.

• In 1983, ARPANET adopted the TCP/IP protocol, becoming the basis of the modern Internet. In the same year, the first home computer that could connect to the Internet was introduced by Commodore called the Commodore 64. The Commodore 64 did not connect directly to the Internet, but rather through a phone line to an online service called Quantum Link, which provided network services such as email, chat rooms, and online gaming.

• In 1985, America Online (AOL) was founded, becoming the first large-scale online service provider that offered online features similar to Quantum Link.

• In 1992, IBM introduced the first smartphone, the Simon Personal Communicator.

• In 1996, Sega released the first game console that could connect to the internet, the Sega Saturn.

• In 2002, PlayStation 2 introduced a peripheral called the Network Adapter.

• In 2007, Apple introduced the first iPhone, truly opening the era of smartphones.

• In 2008, blockchain was introduced.

• In 2011, Siri was introduced.

• In 2015, smart contracts were realized and applied on the Ethereum blockchain.

• In 2020, GPT-3 was introduced.

• In 2021, ChatGPT 3.5 was introduced.

• In 2023, the ChatGPT APP is widely used.

Telephone appeared after the household:

It took 68 years for the first computer to appear.

It took 96 years for the first mobile phone to appear.

It took 106 years for the internet to appear.

After the internet appeared:

It took 9 years for the smart phone to appear.

It took 24 years for the smart phone to become popular.

After the smart phone became popular:

It took 8 years for the smart contract to appear.

It took 16 years for artificial intelligence to become popular.

After the popularity of smartphones, there have been some new breakthrough developments almost every 5 years. Communication is indeed a significant key to breakthroughs in human civilization. Through the exchange and inheritance of knowledge, understanding and cooperation between people, and the development and diversity of culture, communication promotes the progress of human society and various technological breakthroughs.

Just imagine, before the internet, if we wanted to study something or verify some ideas, we had to go to the library. Even after reading more than a dozen books, we might not find anything useful. It would take more time and skills. We had to find a book, which might already be borrowed, get a library card, learn how to use different photocopiers in different libraries, and learn how to pay for it. Nowadays, the internet is popular, and we don't need to go out or use pen and paper. We can easily read different articles and easily excerpt them. It seems that learning speed has increased a lot, and it's hard to remember how we learned before we had these things.

But all progress cannot be stopped.

With ChatGPT, I have a feeling that soon humanity will be able to work without working, and decentralization is inevitable.

Now I can't do any work without ChatGPT. With it, it even saves me time to read articles by asking it basic questions. In the past, if I wanted to do a SWOT Analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) for a brand, I often had to spend a lot of time finding data, looking at their website, reading comments about them, and looking at their social platforms, and it could take a week to organize everything. But now, if I ask ChatGPT to help me, I only need 3 minutes to get a basic understanding of the situation. And because there is no need to prepare a report, the meetings are also relaxed and comfortable. Even if the business is not successful, my investment cost is very low.

How big of a breakthrough is ChatGPT?

If communication efficiency is one of the main factors for civilization progress, then we must explore the reasons that reduce communication efficiency among people.

Let ChatGPT explain what "ineffective communication" is (using ChatGPT 3.5 here, with data as of 2021):

Invalid communication refers to a situation where the expected goals cannot be achieved during the communication process, that is, both parties cannot understand each other's intentions, needs or viewpoints, or the conversation does not have clear results and action plans.

Invalid communication may result in various negative consequences. Firstly, it may waste time and resources, as both parties fail to make any progress or decisions. Secondly, invalid communication may lead to misunderstandings and conflicts, as both parties may misinterpret each other's intentions and viewpoints, leading to conflicts and contradictions. Thirdly, invalid communication may affect relationships, as relationships may be damaged when both parties cannot establish mutual trust and cooperation.

There may be many reasons for invalid communication, such as language barriers, cultural differences, mismatched communication styles, lack of professional knowledge, emotional and attitude issues, etc. To avoid invalid communication, people can improve communication effectiveness through the following methods: ensuring that both parties understand each other's intentions and needs, using clear, specific, and precise language, paying attention to the other party's reactions and responses, adjusting their communication styles and methods appropriately, respecting the other party's viewpoints and values, and ensuring that the conversation has specific results and action plans.

By May 2023, if you search for "ineffective communication" on Google, you will get the following information:

If I search on the internet, I believe that one day I can write three paragraph intros like the ones provided by ChatGPT, but it's not only time-consuming, but also prone to biases due to limited information available or personal opinions mixed in the data.

Reasons for ineffective communication: language barriers, cultural differences, mismatched communication styles, lack of professional knowledge, emotional and attitudinal issues - none of these are present in artificial intelligence.

Since communication is the most important part of our social progress, communication apps are inevitably the battleground for the decentralization movement.

Artificial intelligence will inevitably manage the automated production chain, logistics chain, and service chain, which should greatly reduce the resources we use to maintain our daily lives. Humans can allocate more resources to scientific research, creative work, and other jobs.

During the pandemic, we discovered that our physical location is not as important as we thought. Companies can become more international than before, as long as you can bring value to the company, you can work from home, saving time, increasing efficiency, and taking care of your family and your health.

This also means that the fastest-growing companies will inevitably be those that value core values and can provide stable rewards. In combination with existing systems, DAO is definitely a good choice; although DAO is only a concept, it will not be affected by anyone's exit or entry, and its system allows everyone to be a boss or an employee, as long as they complete the work, they will receive rewards.

Of course, building a communication app on blockchain is not impossible, and some industries that emphasize privacy have already been using this technology. However, the disadvantage of this technology is its high cost, which cannot achieve free usage for everyone.

But is it possible for the company that manages this communication app to adopt a DAO system?

DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) is an organizational form based on blockchain technology. It is driven by smart contracts and has no central authority controlling it. Members participate in decision-making and organizational operations by holding tokens or tokens. The operation of DAO is automatically executed by code and algorithms, ensuring transparency, credibility, and decentralization. Members can propose, vote, and share benefits without relying on intermediaries of traditional organizations. The goal of DAO is to establish a trustless organizational model, promote decentralized decision-making and resource allocation.

If one day, we all have no idea who our colleagues actually are, perhaps we can truly let go of all our prejudices. It's possible that a colleague could be a 13-year-old genius or an elderly housewife, but it no longer matters. As long as they meet the requirements of the program, they will be accepted, and as long as they complete the work, they will automatically receive compensation.

Of course, you could argue that the most important part of a company's structure is having one or a group of managers who can take responsibility for the company when necessary. We all like the illusion of "someone being responsible," but it's undeniable that whenever a company relies heavily on one person, that company is often fragile. Just as Apple needed to continue operating after Steve Jobs passed away, the world must eventually accept that the success or failure of a company is determined more by its system, the attitude of each individual, and their ability to adapt to market changes. Therefore, I believe that a system like DAO that can operate on its own will inevitably be valued.