Q&A with Wyatt Hilkene: Raiinmaker Unveils 'AI Reputation' Promoting Decentralized Engagement and Ethical Innovation

Raiinmaker has launched the "AI Reputation" feature, a scoring system that evaluates and enhances user contributions to decentralized AI development. This system promotes high-quality data contributions, improves AI training models, and fosters inclusivity and ethical standards. By combining human insights through a "human-powered network" with accessible technology, Raiinmaker distinguishes itself from fully automated systems, encouraging diverse global participation via mobile platforms. Its decentralized nature ensures secure, transparent, and scalable AI advancements, using blockchain to connect Web3 and decentralized AI and enabling community-driven AI solutions. Raiinmaker is dedicated to ethical AI development, prioritizing user privacy and data security through its decentralization strategy.

Korea IT Times interviewed Wyatt Hilkene, Head of Operations & Business Development at Raiinmaker, about the launch of the AI Reputation feature, partnerships, and enhanced app capabilities. The following is a question and answer with Wyatt Hilkene:

Raiinmaker recently introduced a feature called “AI Reputation.” Could you explain the concept behind this feature? How does the scoring system work, and why is it important for the future of AI development? 

The AI Reputation feature is a groundbreaking new development we're really excited about at Raiinmaker. In essence, it's a scoring system that evaluates the quality and credibility of each user's contributions to AI development. By quantifying the value of contributions to decentralized AI (DeAI), we’re able to build a transparent reputation system that helps improve AI training models. This is critical for AI development because, as we move toward more DeAI, having a reliable way to measure contribution quality ensures the AI is trained with the best data available. At Raiinmaker, we believe it's a step forward in making AI more inclusive while maintaining high standards in terms of human data and contributions. Raiinmaker's latest update enhances the Raiin AI Score to reflect engagement across various Web3 DeAI initiatives, starting with Aethir and Artificial Superintelligence Alliance. This allows both seasoned contributors and newcomers to engage with DeAI projects and contribute to their growth. Whether you’re a frequent DeAI contributor or someone who is just getting started, we aim to create accessibility for all to engage with decentralized AI projects and contribute to their growth. With the recent updates, we are also giving users the ability to track and enhance their AI contributions. The more they contribute high-quality data, the more their score increases, allowing them to accrue greater rewards over time. This feature not only incentivizes active participation but also strengthens the overall ecosystem by ensuring AI systems are trained with diverse and verified human inputs.

Raiinmaker emphasizes a "human-powered network." How do human contributions enhance AI development on Raiinmaker, and what sets this approach apart from other fully automated AI systems? 

Our human-powered network is designed to integrate the unique insights, creativity, and perspectives that only humans can provide. By enabling individuals to contribute to the development of AI, we ensure that the human inputs used to train our AI models are diverse—ensuring that the AI models remain contextually relevant. What truly sets Raiinmaker apart is the way we combine human contributions with ease of access—particularly through smartphones with our app available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Users can engage with our platform via their mobile devices, making it easier for people worldwide to participate in decentralized AI projects, regardless of location or technical background. This inclusive approach ensures that a wide range of voices contribute to shaping AI while maintaining the ethical and human touch that fully automated systems often lack.

Decentralization is a core part of Raiinmaker’s vision. How does the decentralized nature of your platform contribute to more secure, transparent, and scalable AI development? 

Decentralization is key to ensuring that AI development on Raiinmaker is secure, transparent, and scalable. By distributing data and decision-making across a decentralized network, we aim to eliminate the vulnerabilities associated with centralized platforms. This significantly reduces the risk of data breaches and manipulation, as no single entity holds all power or access. Transparency is another major advantage. Every contribution and interaction is recorded on an immutable ledger on our native network, allowing anyone to have unrestricted access to how data is used. This kind of openness builds trust within the community and at the same time holds everyone accountable. From a scalability perspective, decentralization allows us to build a more flexible and adaptable system. By enabling users around the world to contribute through their inputs in real-time, we can scale AI development rapidly and efficiently without being hindered by traditional bottlenecks often seen in centralized systems.

Web3 and AI are often considered separate tech developments. How is Raiinmaker facilitating the convergence of Web3 with decentralized AI, and what new possibilities does this create for the industry?

We see Web3 and AI as natural partners. At the intersection of Web3 and decentralized AI lies a transformative opportunity for us to redefine how we build and interact with this incredible technology. By combining two of the most innovative and high-impact fields, we are paving the way for a more connected, transparent, and user-driven digital future. At Raiinmaker, we’re bringing these two worlds together by utilizing decentralized networks to power AI development in a way that’s transparent, community-driven, and secure. The key lies in leveraging blockchain's trustless environment to manage and validate contributions to AI models. This creates new possibilities for decentralized AI training where users not only contribute data but also benefit from the growth of the AI itself. Looking forward, the potential of this convergence is immense. It could mean a future where AI models are trained by diverse communities, where users directly benefit from their inputs, and where both AI and Web3 can evolve together in a more open and inclusive ecosystem. We’re excited about the future because we believe that putting the power in the hands of individuals will unlock tremendous value and drive new breakthroughs across both AI and blockchain technologies.

Trust and ethics in AI are major concerns globally. How does Raiinmaker ensure ethical AI development, particularly in terms of user privacy, data security, and responsible AI training?

At Raiinmaker, ethical AI development is at the heart of our mission. Our platform leverages decentralized technology to ensure transparency and security in data management. With Raiinmaker, users maintain more oversight of how their contributions are used, as interactions are recorded immutably on the blockchain. This reduces the risks associated with centralized control and data misuse. We are also committed to responsible AI training. Our AI Reputation feature introduces an additional layer of accountability by ensuring that user contributions are evaluated for quality and credibility before being used to train AI models. This not only ensures ethical input but also minimizes bias in the AI system. In short, we’re fostering a decentralized ecosystem where users can contribute to AI development with confidence, knowing their privacy is respected and their data is used responsibly.

What’s next for Raiinmaker following the launch of the AI Reputation feature? Are there any upcoming features or partnerships that readers should be excited about?

A major highlight for us was the launch of our flagship NFT collection, Raiinmaker Awakens, in partnership with Magic Eden. With over 300,000 mints, it became one of the largest mints on the Base Network, showcasing how Web3 can engage and empower large audiences on a significant scale. We also recently implemented Raiinmaker on the Solana Mobile dApp Store, allowing users of the Solana Mobile Saga phone to directly contribute to the training and development of decentralized AI models. In addition to this, we’ve signed a strategic partnership with Jambo, the leading Web3 mobile infrastructure in emerging markets, to further enhance accessibility and user engagement in the decentralized ecosystem. Raiinmaker will be pre-installed on JamboPhones and listed in the JamboPlay dApp Store, marking a significant step towards democratizing access to decentralized AI and Web3 technologies. In our latest app update, we introduced v3 of the Raiinmaker App, which allows users to not only track their contributions but also see their impact on the broader Raiinmaker AI network. This update includes features like tagging verification, validator rewards, and enhanced reputation tracking—giving users more ways to engage and be rewarded for high-quality on-chain data contributions. Ultimately, our long-term vision is to create a platform where anyone can actively participate in and directly benefit from AI and blockchain. We see a future where AI is not only advancing rapidly but doing so in a way that is ethical, inclusive, and community-driven alongside the widespread adoption of blockchain technology.

As a quick final personal anecdote—just one month ago, I had the opportunity to visit Pangyo Techno Valley outside of Seoul. I was inspired by the achievements of these tech companies, some of which were working in blockchain and ZK-Proofs. In the future, Raiinmaker looks forward to collaborating with any of the stellar Korean companies working on AI model development, data labeling, and blockchain.

우리의 AI 평판 기능은 AI 모델을 훈련하는 데 사용되기 전에 사용자 기여도를 품질과 신뢰성에 대해 평가함으로써 추가적인 책임 계층을 도입합니다.