Content area
As generative AI (GenAI) technologies proliferate, ensuring trust and transparency in digital ecosystems becomes increasingly critical, particularly within democratic frameworks. This article examines decentralized Web3 mechanisms—blockchain, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and data cooperatives—as foundational tools for enhancing trust in GenAI. These mechanisms are analyzed within the framework of the EU’s AI Act and the Draghi Report, focusing on their potential to support content authenticity, community-driven verification, and data sovereignty. Based on a systematic policy analysis, this article proposes a multi-layered framework to mitigate the risks of AI-generated misinformation. Specifically, as a result of this analysis, it identifies and evaluates seven detection techniques of trust stemming from the action research conducted in the Horizon Europe Lighthouse project called ENFIELD: (i) federated learning for decentralized AI detection, (ii) blockchain-based provenance tracking, (iii) zero-knowledge proofs for content authentication, (iv) DAOs for crowdsourced verification, (v) AI-powered digital watermarking, (vi) explainable AI (XAI) for content detection, and (vii) privacy-preserving machine learning (PPML). By leveraging these approaches, the framework strengthens AI governance through peer-to-peer (P2P) structures while addressing the socio-political challenges of AI-driven misinformation. Ultimately, this research contributes to the development of resilient democratic systems in an era of increasing technopolitical polarization.
Details
Digital watermarking;
Multilayers;
Policy analysis;
Generative artificial intelligence;
Blockchain;
Knowledge management;
Developing countries--LDCs;
Ethics;
Machine learning;
Explainable artificial intelligence;
User generated content;
Accountability;
Artificial intelligence;
Hypotheses;
Digital watermarks;
Transparency;
Trust;
Lighthouses;
False information;
Trustworthiness;
Federated learning;
Provenance
1 Public Policy & Economic History Department, Faculty of Economy and Business, University of the Basque Country, UPV-EHU, Oñati Square 1, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain; Basque Foundation for Science, Ikerbasque, Plaza Euskadi 5, 48009 Bilbao, Spain; Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD), School of Social Sciences, Social Science Research Park (Sbarc/Spark), Cardiff University, Maindy Road, Cathays, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK; Decentralization Research Centre, 545 King St. W, Toronto, ON W5V 1M1, Canada; Fulbright Scholar-In-Residence (S-I-R), US-UK Fulbright Commission, Unit 302, 3rd Floor Camelford House, 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP, UK; Astera Institute, 2625 Alcatraz Ave #201, Berkeley, CA 94705, USA; Department of Telecommunications and Artificial Intelligence, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, ENFIELD Horizon, BEM, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
2 Department of Telecommunications and Artificial Intelligence, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, ENFIELD Horizon, BEM, 1117 Budapest, Hungary