Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned at Devcon 8 that artificial intelligence poses emerging threats to security and privacy while simultaneously helping uncover vulnerabilities. He raised concerns about the reliability of hardware wallets and cautioned against making crypto investment decisions based on social media content, which he described as rife with bots and manipulation. Buterin advocated for decentralized, verifiable technologies—including zero-knowledge proofs—to safeguard personal data. He argued that companies should minimize data collection by avoiding unnecessary information gathering altogether.