In the era of deep integration between AI and blockchain, a technology called Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) is quietly changing the game rules of data security. It not only equips artificial intelligence with privacy protection armor but also plays a foundational role in multi-chain collaboration and decentralized agent ecosystems, opening a new chapter of trusted interactions in areas like healthcare, finance, and gaming.
1. How FHE Reshapes Industry Scenarios?
1. Healthcare: Data Can Be Computed Even While 'Masked', Privacy and Compliance Both Achieved
When visiting a hospital for treatment, your medical records and genetic data are like dancers wearing 'masks'—hospitals and research institutions can jointly analyze disease models using this encrypted data, for instance, hospitals in Beijing and research institutions in Shanghai can train cancer prediction algorithms together without exposing patient privacy, fully complying with privacy protection regulations like HIPAA. This 'data usable but invisible' capability makes medical collaboration both efficient and safe.
2. Finance: The 'Invisible Cloak' of the Encrypted World
In decentralized finance (DeFi), FHE acts like an invisible cloak. When you apply for a loan, you do not need to expose sensitive information like income and assets to the platform; you only need to use an encrypted credit scoring model for the review. The execution process of smart contracts also takes place in an encrypted state, effectively preventing MEV attacks, like putting a double-lock on financial transactions.
3. Gaming and the Metaverse: Your Data Belongs Only to You
In the virtual world, your social behavior and digital asset transaction records are protected by FHE encryption. Game AI can customize exclusive experiences for you based on this encrypted data, while developers cannot even see your privacy. For example, the ownership verification of NFT assets does not require exposing the data; it can be completed in an encrypted state, eliminating worries about data leakage on-chain.
2. Essential Elements for a Million-Agent Society
Imagine a future 'digital society' composed of millions of AI agents, where four core conditions are required: decentralized identity, verifiable computing, censorship-resistant collaboration, and data sovereignty. FHE is the key to achieving these: Identity Security: The 'Electronic Passport' of the Digital World
Each agent has its own encrypted identity credential, like an electronic passport, with the entire interaction process encrypted. There’s no need to worry about centralized servers being attacked, as each node is an independent guardian.
Distributed Computing: The 'Distributed Factory' for Encrypted Tasks
Agents can process encrypted tasks on distributed nodes, where the computation results can be verified but not tampered with, forming a true 'Confidential Computing as a Service', similar to breaking down tasks to factories around the world, with each factory only responsible for its part without understanding the whole picture.
Data Sovereignty: The 'Permission Steward' Decided by Users
Users can control AI access permissions like managing keys, such as only allowing the model to use encrypted social preference data, and can revoke permissions at any time, truly achieving 'I control my data'.
3. When AI Meets Blockchain: How FHE Resolves Conflicts?
AI requires a large amount of data for training, while blockchain emphasizes privacy protection. The two seem contradictory, but FHE becomes the reconciler:
The 'Translator' for Multi-Chain Collaboration
When calling AI models across chains, FHE ensures that data remains encrypted during transmission and computation between different chains, acting like a translator, enabling communication between people speaking different languages without leaking the original meaning, and avoiding data exposure during cross-chain processes.
- Agent Consensus: The 'Secret Meeting Room' for Encrypted Voting
Multiple AI agents can vote and make decisions in an encrypted state, reaching consensus without leaking their individual preferences, like voting in a secret meeting room, where the results are unanimous but no one knows who voted for what.
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- End-to-End Encryption: The 'Shield' for Full Data Processes
Traditional AI needs to decrypt data during processing, posing a leakage risk, while FHE supports 'Encrypted State AI', fully encrypting from data input to result output, becoming a core component of the zero-trust internet, ensuring data is protected at every stage.
4. How to Make Users Confident in Authorization?
Surveys show that 80% of users are unwilling to directly open their identity and transaction data to AI, but if 'encrypted processing, minimal authorization, and transparent auditing' are achieved, acceptance can rise to 65%. FHE rebuilds trust through these mechanisms:
- Dynamic Authorization: Flexible and Controllable 'One-Time Key'
Users can set 'one-time one-key' access policies, such as allowing AI to use encrypted medical data only from 8 PM to 10 PM tonight, with permissions automatically revoked once the time expires, just like setting an expiration on a key.
- Verifiable Computing: The 'Surveillance Camera' for Data Usage
Combined with zero-knowledge proofs, users can verify whether AI uses data as agreed, like installing surveillance cameras to ensure data is not misused, making authorization more reassuring.
5. The Future of FHE: From Confidential Computing to Zero Trust Networks
FHE is driving two major trends:
1. Decentralized Confidential Computing (DeCC): Breaking the 'Distributed Market' of Computing Power Monopoly
Building a distributed computing power market based on FHE, allowing any organization to participate in encrypted computing, breaking the monopoly of traditional cloud computing giants, transforming computing power into a shared resource where everyone can participate.
2. Zero Trust Transmission Protocol (HTTPZ): The 'Secure Internet' with Default Encryption
The future internet may default to end-to-end encryption for all interactions, like the HTTPZ protocol, naturally protecting users' browsing, transaction, and other behaviors, completely eliminating intermediary attacks and making network security a standard.
Conclusion: The Future World of Cryptonative
When AI agents become the main characters of the digital society, FHE is no longer just a technology but the infrastructure for rebuilding trust. It allows data flow to coexist with personal sovereignty, laying the foundation for a user-led Web3 ecosystem. The future AI world will surely be a 'cryptonative' world—under the premise of protecting privacy, it will fully release the value of data, allowing every user to enjoy the convenience brought by technology in a secure environment. This may be the most precious gift FHE brings us.
