Speaking of QC, their burgeoning independent news platform co-founded by Ryan Segura, DeFrieze, and others is shaking things up in some really inspiring ways. They are AI and NFT-ing themselves right into the foundational core infrastructure. Segura recently demonstrated to Protos how to generate NFT entries for the platform. What Heppner did highlight was that so many different attributes can be added and updated through the process. Even with this creative and innovative approach as a backdrop, questions remain, starting with “Why NFTs?”
All NFTs associated with What's Going on QC have been transferred to a single address: 0x18582f2CA048ac5f22E5a64F92E8a7d7b1F806a4. Segura is aware that the NFT technology can be used outside of Web3. Just what these NFTs are intended for under the auspices of What’s Going on QC remains a mystery.
As part of the live demonstration, Segura created an entry for “Putnam GIANT Screen,” demonstrating the platform’s NFT creation workflow. He seemed unsure what the actual market would be for these NFTs. He simply could not wrap his mind around the fact that people might actually want to purchase one.
One of the most important parts of What’s Going on QC’s NFT implementation is its use of off-chain metadata storage. Rather than minting all of this metadata on-chain, the raw metadata is simply stored in S3. In his announcement, Segura pointed to the unaffordable costs of services such as Arweave as driving this choice.
AI is an important part threaded throughout the What’s Going on QC web platform. Segura, for one, claims that AI is already providing real-time grammar and spelling checks. It further creates cover photo images and fact checks claims through deep web searches.
"the robot can go out and do deep web searches" - Ryan Segura
AI-assisted robust deep web searches are a huge part of the claim verification process, allowing machines to help determine whether claims are indeed accurate. This further emphasizes the platform’s dedication to using AI to ensure high-quality content on the platform.
Right now, What’s Going on QC is more interested in using NFTs to build web experience, as opposed to living spaces. This is notable considering Segura's involvement with Dig-A-Hash, a company that:
"focuses on solving challenges in real estate operations and property management" - Ryan Segura
As exciting as NFT applications are, Segura demystified that they’ll be used for raising money anytime soon. He also acknowledged that:
"adoption" is one of the biggest problems that crypto has left to solve - Ryan Segura
NFT ecosystems in journalism NFTs used in producing impactful news content pose a vital question of utility and purpose. What’s Going on QC has been working to find creative and new ways to use NFTs. The tangible utility and marketplace for these NFTs remains unknown.
Segura’s last startup, Dig-A-Hash, was focused on exploring the possibilities of blockchain. Joshua DeDecker, an executive at Dig-A-Hash, once stated:
"create hundreds of records for 25 cents that will be there… until the blockchain dies" - Joshua DeDecker
This claim is an echo of the prevailing wisdom that blockchain technology is a more cost-effective, long-term solution for data storage. It’s too early to say if What’s Going on QC’s NFT experiment will have the same sort of outcomes.
