The idea is that a user\u2019s delegate, or \u201cdigital twin,\u201d will learn their preferences and then act accordingly when it comes time to make governance decisions<\/a>. It would transform the voting process into a\u00a0 \u201cmath problem\u201d that can \u201chappen almost instantly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen you kind of set this thing loose, and it kind of acts on your behalf and votes on your behalf. It nudges you. When you know, proposals come up that are relevant to you,\u201d he said during an interview at the Token2049 conference in Singapore.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s in a sense, almost our end game vision for this, where we replace all human actors with a digital twin, if you want to call it that, to solve this voter apathy, participation issue.\u201d It\u2019s estimated<\/a> that average participation rates in DAOs are between 15% and 25%, which can lead to issues such as the centralization of power, ineffective decision-making, and, in worst-case scenarios, governance attacks<\/a>, where a bad actor acquires enough tokens to pass a damaging proposal without other members noticing.<\/p>\n Human input is still part of the process<\/p>\n Rettig said there will likely still be a human element involved in the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said he is a \u201cfirm believer that there should always be a human in the loop,\u201d because there are categories of proposals that are too critical to leave solely to an AI, such as those concerning fund allocations or strategy pivots.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that there\u2019s definitely a category of things where you\u2019re going to want the human to make the final decision, pull the trigger,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd having said that, it can not only nudge you, it can also say, based on what I know about you, I think you should vote this way, but you should be the one to vote right, and they can learn. If it gets things wrong, that means there\u2019s something wrong with the context.\u201d<\/p>\n AI agents are already widespread across crypto and are used to build Web3 applications, launch tokens, and interact with services and protocols autonomously, with some platforms exploring the use of AI agents<\/a> for trading to automate tasks and make real-time decisions.<\/p>\n Delegates trained on user behavior<\/p>\n Similar to how generative AI chatbots<\/a> are trained, such as OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT, Rettig said the AI delegates would learn through interactions with users, including an interview process, voting history and messages on social platforms like Telegram and Discord.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you kind of switch this agent on, it just gets to know you, right? It kind of needs to learn your political preferences, the kind of projects you care about, and where you think funds should be allocated,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Investment manager VanEck estimates that the number of AI agents<\/a> in the crypto industry surpassed 10,000 by the end of 2024 and is expected to top 1 million by 2025. However, there are concerns that AI agents pose both security risks<\/a> and could bungle important decisions if relied on too heavily.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the ways the Near Foundation is trying to ensure the delegates remain aligned with a user\u2019s values is through a verifiable model training model, which shows cryptographic proof of its training cycles and inputs, according to Rettig.<\/p>\n AI delegate rollout is a steady process<\/p>\n Near\u2019s main<\/a> DAO, the Near Digital Collective, has already implemented an AI tool called Pulse, which tracks community sentiment, summarises Discord forums and highlights important content, Rettig said.<\/p>\n![\"Technology,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0199a819-89fd-7125-93a2-0fe8517a7d57.jpeg\" "\\"\\"\/")
Lane Rettig told Cointelegraph that an AI-powered governance overhaul is in development for Near Protocol\u2019s DAO. Source: Cointelegraph\u00a0<\/p>\n