EPIK: A NEXT-GENERATION PROTOCOL FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is simply defined as the simulation of human intellect in machines that are built to think like humans and replicate their activities, particularly in the aspects of learning and problem-solving.

Artificial intelligence is widely regarded as one of the most revolutionary discoveries in human history, with the world already witnessing its truly revolutionary potential. It is not a surprise that artificial intelligence-based technologies are propelling some of the most groundbreaking products we use in our everyday lives.

AI now helps businesses, governments, and societies to construct a high-performing ecosystem that can serve globally. Its enormous influence on human lives is resolving some of society’s most pressing issues.

The key characteristic of artificial intelligence is to rationalize and execute actions that have the highest probability of attaining a specific goal. Deep learning techniques facilitate this automated learning by absorbing massive quantities of unstructured data such as images, videos, or text.

It is without a doubt that AI relies on data for it to build its intelligence. It works by integrating large volumes of data with fast, iterative processing and intelligent algorithms, which enables a particular program to learn autonomously from patterns or features in the data provided. The more data an AI program has, the more accurate its results will be.

Several industries adopt Artificial Intelligence in order to function properly and more effectively. Some of these industries include:

• Health: Companies apply AI in order to make better and faster diagnoses.
• Business: Business has adopted AI in order to serve customers better. An example is the incorporation of Chatbots in websites for immediate service to customers.
• Education: AI eases the job of tutors in several ways. The availability of AI can automate grading, easily collect and store information from students for educators to know how to serve them better.
• Manufacturing: Manufacturing companies adopt AI robots to perform some tasks which would ordinarily be difficult for humans.

As earlier mentioned, AI relies mainly on data collected for it to be fruitful with its aims and objectives. Collection of these data is one thing, interpreting them is another; forms of knowledge such as texts, images, or videos can be difficult for machines to understand. Google laid a foundation that alleviates this problem in their knowledge graph technology which enhances its search engine’s results by collecting information from various sources; however, the problem doesn’t end there. Converting this knowledge to appropriate formats can be time-consuming, labour required to execute these tasks, and the likelihood of data manipulation under a centralized control system are all problems that still abound.

There appears to be a project that has built an impressive means of collecting data and appropriately handling them, thereby improving the world of Artificial Intelligence.

EPIK PROTOCOL

The EpiK Protocol was derived from the term “Epigraphic Knowledge,” which means interpretation of knowledge. The Protocol aims to create a worldwide collaborative decentralized knowledge graph using blockchain technology to widen the reach and impact of Artificial Intelligence.

EpiK Protocol facilitates cooperation among community members and at an incredibly low cost and creates the first decentralized AI storage protocol by leveraging four key trusted capabilities - trusted storage, trusted incentive, trusted governance and trusted finance. With this, human knowledge in various disciplines is transferred into an everlasting knowledge graph, broadening AI’s reach and ushering in a special era of cognitive intelligence.

Trusted Storage

EpiK Protocol employs Filecoin’s decentralized storage technology to achieve trusted storage. Filecoin’s core technology is the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) protocol, which is a peer-to-peer network for storing and transferring data in a distributed system. This protocol gathers the distributed devices into a unified file system and converts all files into a Merkle Trie structure, resulting in a unique Root Hash. This eliminates the need to store duplicate data blocks, and the nodes will just need to synchronize with Root Hash for consistency.

Instead of massive file storage, most files in EpiK Protocol’s KG collaboration network will exist as small bin-log files for effective and efficient communication. To enable smooth connectivity between both platforms, the EpiK protocol uses Filecoin’s core technology to customize a Filecoin Layer 2 storage network for the KG collaboration network and gather KG data on Layer 2 through various incentives. The KG data will then be regularly aggregated into big snapshot files before being permanently saved within the Filecoin network.

The EpiK Protocol Layer 2 network maintains the trust of the Filecoin Layer 1 network while concentrating on the collaborative efforts of building KG data of various domains, which are saved in the EpiK Protocol network as bin-log files. Anyone can download the bin-log files and execute them to restore a graph database locally without the need for authorization from any centralized organization. Users can also earn rewards by uploading the database snapshot to the Filecoin network.

Trusted Incentive

The EpiK Protocol’s Token Economy delivers a trustworthy incentive model to its ecosystem. Tokenization introduces a new method of transferring value based on blockchain technology:

(i) tokens can be spent, transferred, and exchanged

(ii) transactions are public and immutable

Tokenization is a programmable asset that may be used as a transfer of value with low costs, without depending on third-party verifications. The circulation of EpiK Protocol’s native token, EPK, lays the groundwork for EpiK’s Token Economy. While following their personal interests, the EpiK Protocol develops a collaborative relationship with the KG network’s core participants in order to collectively construct a knowledge graph.

Five core participants of the EpiK Protocol include:

Knowledge Gateways (KGs),

Knowledge Experts (KEs),

Knowledge Nodes (KNs),

Bounty Hunters, and

EKP holders.

Knowledge Experts and Bounty Hunters are in charge of supplying knowledge, processing unstructured data into high-quality structured knowledge graph data, and sustaining data quality. Knowledge Nodes continuously provide data storage of EpiK’s structured knowledge graph data in a decentralized network to ensure its availability; Knowledge Gateways make knowledge available by effectively indexing the knowledge graph data in the decentralized network and enabling traceability for tamper-proofing. EPK holders are responsible for the maintenance and governance of EpiK’s blockchain ecosystem.

Trusted Governance

The EpiK Protocol’s trustworthy governance is based on Decentralized Autonomous Organization Technology (DAO), which governs an organization in a decentralized manner by utilizing codes to enforce rules, and the immutability to tamper with data using blockchain technology. Any concerns inside an organization that requires governance may be resolved using DAO, in which eligible persons vote to determine the outcome. The usage of DAO technology in governance is objective, and as a result, conflicts will not be immediately addressed. Under normal circumstances, DAO decreases the cost of determining the outcome by eliminating the need for manual counting, monitoring, arbitration, and enforcement.

In a situation whereby interests are conflicted, each side has the right to vote based on their own judgments and differing interests. As a result, EpiK’s DAO governance approach is designed to maximize the community’s interest when distributing voting rights, ensuring that all stakeholders can participate in governance.

Two principles are upheld in EpiK Protocol: (i) only the affected parties can vote on the respective governance topic; (ii) weight of voting power varies depending on how heavily affected the parties involved are.

Based on this, the EpiK Protocol divides the core participants into three groups namely; the Global Group, the Storage Group, and the Knowledge Group.

• The Global Group: The Global Group is in charge of governing global parameters, which are in place to protect the interests of all EPK token holders. The degree of reliance of EpiK Protocol on each category of participant varies at different phases of development. Adapting to dynamic changes in market demand, the distribution of EPK to various participants must also be dynamically adjusted. Participants acquire the opportunity of right to vote in the Global Group by locking their EPK tokens. As a result, the quantity of EPK locked directly reflects the extent of binding between the participant’s interest and the Global Group’s interest.
• The Storage Group: The Storage Group is in charge of the parameters that govern the miners’ interests. As EpiK’s ecosystem expands, the quantity of data stored, backup size, and download bandwidth requirements vary, requiring parameters to be adjusted accordingly. The more data the miner stores, the greater the miner’s governance rights.
• The Knowledge Group: The Knowledge Group is in charge of the parameters that regulate the Domain Experts. As the number of Domain Experts and Bounty Hunters increases, reward allocations must be modified according to the market demand of various domains. Given that Domain Experts can be elected by Bounty Hunters, only Domain Experts have governance rights, which are weighted based on the amount of data they supplied after log transformation. All proposals, voting, and execution procedures are conducted in the form of DAO, through smart contracts.

Trusted Finance

The trusted financial capacity of the EpiK Protocol is derived from Decentralized Financial Technology (DeFi). In today’s cryptocurrency market, the majority of users own popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH). A decentralized lending service will be made accessible on EpiK Protocol to enable users to easily engage in EpiK’s decentralized knowledge graph ecosystem.

Popular crypto holders can benefit from participation in EpiK Protocol’s decentralized knowledge graph ecosystem. First, the user converts BTC to eBTC using the EpiK Protocol’s cross-chain gateway. Then, he or she must stake eBTC in order to borrow EPK tokens using EpiK’s lending business. With the acquired EPK tokens, he/she may explore other advantages of participating in the EpiK ecosystem.

Mine EPK: Stake EPK to become a node; or Become a Domain Expert: Vote for yourself or others to become Domain Experts in order to receive continuous EPK rewards; or Simply retrieve data: stake EPK to download any relevant knowledge graph data.

When exiting the EpiK ecosystem, unstake any staked EPKs, return them to the EpiK loan service, and retrieve the previously staked eBTC and convert it back to BTC using the cross-chain gateway. The eBTC will be burnt upon return. With the addition of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the EpiK Protocol can not only support Compound-like lending services but also easily interact with other DeFi platforms such as Uniswap and Hegic, enabling any interested crypto holder to explore EpiK’s decentralized knowledge graph ecosystem.

Principle of Design

Governance does not directly resolve issues, but it does provide resources for conflict resolution. The goal of the EpiK governance model design is to offer the EpiK community a tool for resolving local issues in order to maximize overall value. Two basic principles were created for this purpose.

Principle of Information Disclosure

In the EpiK governance model, Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) form was adopted by the network for decentralized governance. DAO is a kind of proposal governance that uses blockchain smart contracts. All proposals, votes, and execution information in DAO will be revealed and recorded on the blockchain in real-time, and no one will be able to change it. Anyone from the DAO community can supervise and participate in the whole governance process without permission.

Interest Relevance Principle

In the EpiK governance model, everyone has the right to vote only on ideas that are related to their personal interests. This means that the voting power of the same account in different proposals varies, and power size is determined by the degree of interest and relevance between the account and the proposal. When voting power is completely irrelevant, it is 0; the deeper the degree of relevance, the greater the voting power.

Knowledge Mainland

The EpiK Protocol took further steps in sourcing accurate data for AI technology by creating an easy and effective means of acquiring quality data called Knowledge Mainland.

Knowledge Mainland is a gamified data crowdsourcing application that allows anyone to easily contribute their knowledge by answering questions and gaining points in the process.

Knowledge Mainland makes Knowledge Graph annotation more practical. Domain specialists with systematic knowledge structures in diverse relevant disciplines, such as university professors, scientists, and industry experts, iron out the structure of Knowledge Graph in Knowledge Mainland.

Also, each section of the Knowledge Graph is split into several fill-in questions and essay assessments, and EpiK will collaborate with various crowdsourcing channels and highly qualified annotation teams to assist domain experts in completing the allocation of labour tasks, as well as collaborate with data annotation training centers to consistently expand the number and quality of bounty hunters, so there can be more participants in the Knowledge Graph Tagging.

Knowledge Mainland consists of three main buildings which are discussed below:-

Energy Building: This represents your current energy or the highest amount of questions you can answer each day. There will be corresponding changes with the development of the times. The more advanced the times, the greater the energy.

Knowledge Building: It is a representation of your acquired knowledge. Each day, you can participate in answering the questions by clicking on them. The more questions you answer, the more knowledge you gain. Quantitative changes will result in qualitative changes, and the times will change.

Exploration Building: This represents the rewards of the knowledge acquired, which may be used once per specified period to obtain special rewards. This reward represents your achievements.

Conclusion

There are a lot of problems facing the Artificial Intelligence industry that EpiK solves with their protocol and intends to solve in the future. Right now, low management costs and continuous production of high-quality data are two of the major benefits EpiK Protocol provides.

Visit https://epik-protocol.io/ for more information.