Goto

Collaborating Authors

 History


Can Artificial Intelligence solve the blockchain oracle problem? Unpacking the Challenges and Possibilities

Caldarelli, Giulio

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

The blockchain oracle problem, which refers to the challenge of injecting reliable external data into decentralized systems, remains a fundamental limitation to the development of trustless applications. While recent years have seen a proliferation of architectural, cryptographic, and economic strategies to mitigate this issue, no one has yet fully resolved the fundamental question of how a blockchain can gain knowledge about the off-chain world. In this position paper, we critically assess the role artificial intelligence (AI) can play in tackling the oracle problem. Drawing from both academic literature and practitioner implementations, we examine how AI techniques such as anomaly detection, language-based fact extraction, dynamic reputation modeling, and adversarial resistance can enhance oracle systems. We observe that while AI introduces powerful tools for improving data quality, source selection, and system resilience, it cannot eliminate the reliance on unverifiable off-chain inputs. Therefore, this study supports the idea that AI should be understood as a complementary layer of inference and filtering within a broader oracle design, not a substitute for trust assumptions.


Alan Turing institute launches new mission to protect UK from cyber-attacks

The Guardian

A glitch at its cloud computing service brought down apps and websites around the world earlier this month. A glitch at its cloud computing service brought down apps and websites around the world earlier this month. Tue 28 Oct 2025 09.29 EDTLast modified on Tue 28 Oct 2025 10.26 EDT Britainâ s leading AI institute has announced a new mission to help protect the nation from cyber-attacks on infrastructure, including energy, transport and utilities, after it was embroiled in allegations of toxic work culture and the chief executive resigned amid ministerial pressure. The Alan Turing Institute will â carry out a programme of science and innovation designed to protect the UK from hostile threatsâ, it announced on Tuesday as part of changes following the resignation last month of Jean Innes, its chief executive, after a staff revolt and government calls for a strategic overhaul of the state-funded body. The mission comes amid growing concern over Britainâ s vulnerability to internet outages and cyber-attacks after this monthâ s incident affecting Amazonâ s cloud computing globally and recent cyber-attacks crippling production at Jaguar Land Rover factories, and supply chains at Marks & Spencer and the Co-op.


Harry and Meghan join AI pioneers in call for ban on superintelligent systems

The Guardian

The statement signed by Harry and Meghan was organised by the Future of Life Institute, a US-based AI safety group. The statement signed by Harry and Meghan was organised by the Future of Life Institute, a US-based AI safety group. Nobel laureates also sign letter saying ASI technology should be barred until there is consensus that it can be developed'safely' The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have joined artificial intelligence pioneers and Nobel laureates in calling for a ban on developing superintelligent AI systems . Harry and Meghan are among the signatories of a statement calling for "a prohibition on the development of superintelligence". Artificial superintelligence (ASI) is the term for AI systems, yet to be developed, that exceed human levels of intelligence at all cognitive tasks.


Move over, Alan Turing: meet the working-class hero of Bletchley Park you didn't see in the movies

The Guardian

Tommy Flowers: nothing like the machine he proposed had ever been contemplated. Tommy Flowers: nothing like the machine he proposed had ever been contemplated. Move over, Alan Turing: meet the working-class hero of Bletchley Park you didn't see in the movies The Oxbridge-educated boffin is feted as the codebreaking genius who helped Britain win the war. But should a little-known Post Office engineer named Tommy Flowers be seen as the real father of computing? T his is a story you know, right? It's early in the war and western Europe has fallen. Only the Channel stands between Britain and the fascist yoke; only Atlantic shipping lanes offer hope of the population continuing to be fed, clothed and armed. But hunting "wolf packs" of Nazi U-boats pick off merchant shipping at will, coordinated by radio instructions the Brits can intercept but can't read, thanks to the fiendish Enigma encryption machine.


A New Movie About George Orwell and em 1984 /em Has a Unique Way of Telling Its Story. It May Haunt You.

Slate

Movies Why an Oscar-Nominated Filmmaker Used A.I. to Make His New Documentary Enter your email to receive alerts for this author. You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. You're already subscribed to the aa_Sam_Adams newsletter. You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. We encountered an issue signing you up.


Faisal Islam: Will the US tech bromance turn around the UK economy?

BBC News

In the old Camden Town Hall opposite London's St Pancras station, away from the white tie and tails of the pageantry at Windsor Castle, was perhaps the most substantive display of the consequences of Donald Trump's state visit. In front of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, many members of the British and US cabinets and the cream of the European tech industry, a highly-crafted video played, featuring the long history of UK science. It included George Stephenson, Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing and Sir Demis Hassabis, with dozens of UK start-up companies from every corner of the country listed. It was a cross between a UK government investment promotion video and the Danny Boyle 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, except for one crucial detail - it was voiced by Jensen Huang, the American Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) and microchip magnate. This week, Trump said the tech tycoon was taking over the world and the boss of the company, which hit a market value of $4tn (£2.9tn) this summer, appears to have gone all-in on the UK in quite an extraordinary way.


Head of UK's beleaguered Alan Turing Institute resigns

The Guardian

The chief executive of the UK's leading artificial intelligence agency is stepping down after a staff revolt and government calls for a strategic overhaul. Jean Innes has led the Alan Turing Institute since 2023, but her position has come under pressure amid widespread discontent within the organisation and a demand from its biggest funder, the UK government, for a change in direction. ATI said the search was already under way for a replacement for Innes, who held senior roles in the civil service and technology industry before her appointment. Government sources pointed to a letter sent by the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, to ATI's chair in July that demanded strategic change and indicated a need for new leadership. In the letter, Kyle said the institute should switch its focus to defence and national security and urged "careful consideration" on having an appropriate executive team in place for such a move.


'Shut it down and start again': staff disquiet as Alan Turing Institute faces identity crisis

The Guardian

When the UK government announced the creation of the Alan Turing Institute in 2014 it promised a "fitting memorial" to the renowned computer scientist and artificial intelligence pioneer. More than a decade on, Britain's leading AI institute is in turmoil as staff warn it may be in danger of collapse and ministers demand a shift in focus to defence and security work. "The ATI brand is well recognised internationally," says Dame Wendy Hall, a professor of computer science at the University of Southampton and the co-chair of a 2017 government AI review. "If it ceases to be the national institute for AI and data science then we are at risk of weakening our international leadership in AI." Turing's legacy, as the mathematical genius who helped crack the Enigma code, outlined key concepts of AI and invented the eponymous test to discern whether a computer can show human intelligence, has been rebuilt and burnished in recent years. In 2013 he received a posthumous royal pardon 59 years after his death, having been convicted of gross indecency in 1952 after admitting a sexual relationship with a man.


Staff at UK's top AI institute complain to watchdog about its internal culture

The Guardian

Staff at the UK's leading artificial intelligence institute have raised concerns about the organisation's governance and internal culture in a whistleblowing complaint to the charity watchdog. The Alan Turing Institute (ATI), a registered charity with substantial state funding, is under government pressure to overhaul its strategic focus and leadership after an intervention last month from the technology secretary, Peter Kyle. In a complaint to the Charity Commission, a group of current ATI staff raise eight points of concern and say the institute is in danger of collapse due to government threats over its funding. The complaint alleges that the board of trustees, chaired by the former Amazon UK boss Doug Gurr, has failed to fulfil core legal duties such as providing strategic direction and ensuring accountability, with staff alleging a letter of no confidence was delivered last year and not acted upon. A spokesperson for ATI said the Charity Commission had not been in touch with the institute about any complaints that may have been sent to the organisation.


Inside Jeffrey Epstein's Forgotten AI Summit

WIRED

In 2002, artificial intelligence was still in winter. Despite decades of effort, dreams of bestowing computers with human-like cognition and real-world understanding had not materialized. To look for a way forward, a small group of scientists gathered for "The St. Thomas Common Sense Symposium." AI pioneer Marvin Minsky was the central presence, along with his protégé Pushpinder Singh. After the symposium, Minsky, Singh, and renowned philosopher Aaron Sloman published a paper on the group's ideas for how to reach human-like AI.