Vitalik Buterin Suggests the Idea of AI-Based Code Audits and Ethereum Project Developers Are Supporting Him

Last year, crypto holders suffered an estimated loss of $2 billion to scams and hacks. Out of all blockchain networks, Ethereum experienced the biggest losses because of its high-profile projects and extensive ecosystems. However, with the help of AI, this might become an issue of the past.

Using AI-Based Code Audits

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, had an interesting idea amid a surge in AI-related tokens. In a post on X, he said that code audits might present a possible application for AI projects utilizing the new technology.

He added that AI-assisted formal verification of code and bug locating is one application of AI that excites him. This is because one of Ethereum’s biggest technical flaws is actually bugs in code. So, anything that can fix this issue will drastically change the game.

In the past few weeks, the AI sector has once again emerged as an investment narrative. It comes as a result of the amazing market results of chipmaker Nvidia and the latest releases by OpenAI. Just several weeks into the hype, we are seeing the prices of AI tokens doubling up.

Buterin’s idea of AI-based code audits can greatly increase the security in the crypto industry. A sector known for its scams and exploits.

Can AI Help Code Audits?

One developer explained that blockchain projects already operate with smart contract audits with the assistance of a variety of tools. However, one big restraint to these programs is that they cannot adapt to the new information as AI can.

A TokenFi developer said that they can train AI to recognize and adapt to new contexts and information. This makes it way more effective at recognizing the vulnerabilities that static analysis rules wouldn’t cover. It’s worth mentioning that TokenFi is developing its own AI-assisted code auditing platform.

The people who work on this project added that they can improve AI tools with new patterns and datasets. For them, this adaptation is crucial in the constantly evolving field of smart contract security. A day without any vulnerabilities can emerge in this sector and novel ways can exploit the existing ones.

Another thing the developer explained regards the AI’s ability to learn and improve from time to time. All of that combined with the ability for pattern recognition and deep analysis.

A different developer thinks that they can predict vulnerabilities based on forecasts and historical data with the help of AI systems. Combining the AI examination with a human inspection can develop a super strong system check-up mechanism.

RJ Ke, a developer at Ethereum layer-2 Taiko, explained how they can speed up the process of teaching its AI system. They can show it what to look for based on past experiences, which allows it to detect potential issues in time.

He believes that AI may also help with high technical tasks. One of them is to certify that the code acts as it should under various conditions.

Ke noted that this combination of AI and human inspection is doing more than just strengthening their code. It also offers them hope for some even more exciting progress in Ethereum’s ecosystem in 2024.