ChatGPT – the impact on Web3, Web2 and online security

Gaining over one million registered users in just five days, it became the fastest growing tech platform ever. ChatGPT generates impressively detailed human-like written text and thoughtful prose, after being fed a text input prompt. In addition, ChatGPT also writes code. The Web3 community were intrigued, curious and shocked by the power of this AI Chatbot.

Now ChatGPT can write, scan, and hack Smart Contracts, where do we go next?

The ChatGPT AI code writer is a game changer for Web3 which can go two ways:

1. Near instant security audits of smart contract code to find vulnerabilities and exploits (existing & prior to implementation).
2. On the flip side, bad actors can program AI to find vulnerabilities to exploit SC code. (thousands of existing SC could suddenly find themselves exposed)

The Naoris Protocol POV

In the long term this will be a net positive for the future of Web3 security.

In the short-term AI will expose vulnerabilities which will need to be addressed as we could see a potential spike in breaches.

AI will illuminate where humans need to improve.

For Web3 devs & development (pre-deployment)

Web3 developers and auditors will be in less demand. The future may look like this:

• Devs will instruct, write, and generate code using AI
• Devs will read and criticise AIs output, learning patterns, looking for weak spots
• Auditors will need to understand errors, mistakes, and code patterns
• Auditors will need to learn the limitations of AI
• AI will work in tandem with dev teams to strengthen future code and systems
• AI will be part of the development to production pipeline

For devs and auditors, it will be survival of the fittest.

• Only the best who can work with, instruct, and evaluate AI, will survive
• Dev teams will reduce in numbers with an AI on the team

For Web3 security (post-deployment)

• Swarm AI will be used to scan in near real time the status of Smart Contracts
• Code will be monitored for anomalies, code injections and hacks
• The attack position is to find bugs and errors of the AI, instead of the code itself          
• This will improve Web3 smart contract security hugely ($3billion hacked in 2022 to date)
• This will also impact the CISOs and IT teams’ ability to monitor in real time
• Security budgets will be reduced, cybersecurity teams will reduce in numbers
• Only those who can work with and interpret AI will be in demand

Conclusion

AI is not a human being. It will miss basic preconceptions, knowledge, and subtleties that only humans see. It is a tool that will improve vulnerabilities that are coded in error by humans. It will seriously improve the quality of coding in Smart Contracts. But we can never 100% trust its output.