Two Master of Accountancy students from the University of Oregon's Lundquist School of Business are making waves in the academic publishing world with a new paper on the timely topic of artificial intelligence and blockchain.
Jordan Brewer and Dhru Patel are interested in the intersection of accounting technology and blockchain, and how blockchain can help address some of the more concerning areas of AI.
The paper, “Overcoming the Challenges of Generative Technology: A Proposal for Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain,” will be published in Business Horizons and is co-authored by Alex Murray, assistant professor of business administration and adviser to the student club Oregon Blockchain Group, and Denny Kim of the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
It is relatively rare for a PhD student to even publish a research paper in collaboration with their supervisor, and it is almost unheard of for a Masters student to publish a paper on their first try without being asked to revise it.
Indeed, Murray said the piece was being rushed to publication because it addresses a modern-day problem: the spread of misinformation, including deepfake videos, photos and text.
In their paper, Duru, Brewer, Murray and Kim propose a solution that emphasizes accountability and transparency, leveraging blockchain, an online ledger system used for cryptocurrency and other transactions. Specifically, the authors explain how integrating blockchain ledgers into AI could address some of the current challenges with AI, including “hallucinations” associated with bias and hate speech.
Their proposed solutions would help ensure factual information and accountability, and prevent abuse.
“In the absence of meaningful regulation of AI, we propose how a technological infrastructure built on blockchain can mitigate the harmful effects of AI,” Murray said.
In other words, integrating blockchain technology with AI will enhance trust and accountability while preserving the privacy of people's data, Patel explained.
Both are graduating in June and will be joining CPA firms: Jordan will be joining Morgan Stanley in New York, and Dru will be joining PWC in San Francisco.
Patel said he's been involved with the technology for a while and is particularly interested in how the integration of blockchain could bring about positive changes to the cultural aspects of world-changing AI technologies.
Brewer said the project has sparked even more interest in the subject.
“I plan to continue writing and keeping these topics top of mind in the accounting industry,” he said. “I'm interested in what would happen if research were to move in the direction of enhancing human productivity rather than replacing it, and how we could increase productivity as a society. The United States could potentially earn enough GDP to wipe out its debt, and if there's anything that could increase productivity to that level, I think it's AI.”
One topic they want to explore is how big industry players are using and influencing AI tools while ordinary people are still struggling to gain an equal footing in the rapidly changing world of AI.
“Collective organizations can potentially compete with corporations,” Patel said. “We're looking at creating incentive structures around that.”
Ultimately, Murray said, AI has the power to reshape how we interact as a society, for better or worse. “If we look at it through a technology deterministic lens, the outcome will not be encouraging given the advances in technology to date,” Murray said. “Continuing on our current path, AI will not be able to automate or scale without the transparency, verifiability and decentralization of blockchain. Especially surveillance by unscrupulous governments and organizations.”
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