OORT Tackles AI and Web3’s Biggest Headaches With Social Media Quests

The idea that “data is the new oil” has almost become a cliché, but the reason it’s so often said is because it’s true. In fact, it’s becoming even more critical than ever, for data is no longer just about analytics and insights – more than ever, it has become the engine that’s driving the growth of the artificial intelligence industry. 

But just like oil, it seems that good quality data is a finite resource, and that means the AI industry simply can’t get enough of it. 

Enter OORT, a decentralized data cloud for AI, which has just announced the global launch of its DataHub Launchpad. The company is pitching the new service as the “TikTok for Data”, but unlike other data-focused startups, it’s actually trying to kill two birds with one stone. In addition to catering to AI developers, it’s simultaneously tackling another very real problem – growing Web3 communities. But how? 

Quite simply, it pays people to provide that data and join Web3 communities. The platform works like a marketplace, where AI projects and social media influencers can create “campaign types” and advertise what they need. 

AI data collection campaigns are for AI developers, who will describe the type of data they want, so contributors can go off and collect it, earning rewards for doing so. Social media campaigns are different, and involve influencers and brands creating data tasks that incentivize followers to do the data collection for them. For instance, a social media personality might request people to upload videos or images of colorful hair styles for an image database to their Instagram account and tag them in it. Followers will earn incentives for doing this, similar to an online quest platform such as Zealy. 

There are also survey campaigns, these involve collecting feedback from users regarding different products and services. 

In every type of campaign, users are rewarded for their participation in the shape of OORT tokens. So, projects to pay a global audience to drive community growth and create the high-quality AI training data they need, which influencers and brands can expand their online communities through incentives. 

OORT launched DataHub Launchpad in early access for whitelisted projects last month, and from today it’s now open to anyone who wants a low-cost source of quality data, community engagement or a chance to earn a bit of money on the side. 

“It’s a win-win: projects get the diverse, human-generated data they desperately need, while users get rewarded for their time and contribution,” OORT founder and Chief Executive Dr. Max Li promised. “We’re excited to see a vibrant community grow around this concept, similar to how platforms like TikTok have connected creators and audiences.”

Although the platform is only just opening up, OORT has already built a solid community of data creators and they’ve gotten a fair bit of work done already. In July, their contributions were curated into the company’s first image dataset and listed on data marketplaces including Google Cloud’s Analytics Hub, the Databricks Marketplace and the Snowflake Marketplace. The dataset is available, either in whole or in part, to any enterprise that needs a set of high quality images for AI training, with prices ranging from two cents to 10 cents per image. 

To ensure that each contributor is rewarded fairly, the data they provide is tokenized on the blockchain, which means it can be traced back to its source. This allows OORT to reward each individual who provided an image every time a company pays to access it. 

OORT’s DataHub Launchpad represents one of the first real-world tests to see how far decentralized data collection can go towards fulfilling an extremely urgent demand. The internet has almost been exhausted, and the proliferation of AI-generated content makes it much less useful for AI developers. But much of the rest of the world’s data is owned by private companies that either don’t want to share it, or charge a high price for doing so. That’s why OORT thinks there will be big demand for the high-quality, targeted datasets it aims to provide. 

The platform can also aid in community growth. Far too brands, projects and wannabe influencers struggle to attract an audience, yet building a sustainable community following is absolutely essential to their success. OORT is offering them a way to do that by rewarding followers for their interactions, as well as the opportunity for additional revenue streams when they monetize the datasets their fanbase creates. 

If OORT can help individuals and projects to build up an audience while simultaneously feeding the AI frenzy, its DataHub Launchpad really could be something special.