Solana's AI-powered tools could help 'normies' pick NFTs

Most noise surrounding the NFT market has recently been dominated by headlines and data that paint a particularly dire picture of the sector. But Solana Labs says there are still people interested in joining the fray and is working on a new AI tool to help them make the leap.

“One of the challenges right now ... [buyers] need to go figure out a lot of different data points,” Solana Labs Head of Product Tal Tchwella told The Block while discussing just how hard it can be to enter the market from scratch.

Among efforts to make it easier to select the perfect initial collection, Solana Labs is working on an AI took that will help users identify and buy the non-fungible tokens best suited to their wants and needs.

“Some of it is a lot of hype as we’ve seen with certain NFT collections," Tchwella added. "But some of it is about the genuine connections that people are creating through this and this is where AI can come in and make that data accessible for a normie, for somebody new coming into [web3] to discover what are the things that they care about.”

Finding the best NFT community

Tchwella said Solana may soon be able to unveil AI-powered applications that can assist first-time NFT buyers determine not only what collections are “trending” but also choose the communities that match their profile.

“We’re seeing interest in learning more … and learning who you want to be associated with, especially [from] newcomers to this space,” added Tchwella.

While NFTs minted on the Solana blockchain tend to be considerably less valuable than digital assets on Ethereum, like high-priced Bored Ape Yacht Club and Azuki NFTs, Solana has in recent months made progress in terms of growing its ecosystem.

In May, Solana added 6.7 million new digital wallet addresses, followed by another 3.3 million in June, according to The Block Research data. Ethereum added 2.3 million addresses to its network in May followed by 2.5 million in June, the data also showed.

Solana Labs’ co-founder and CEO Anatoly Yakovenko also recently discussed how AI could aid the development of web3 and crypto when he said in May that artificial intelligence will make Solana “more usable and understandable.” The comments came as the blockchain company announced its release of a ChatGPT plugin.