Hyper-personalization is an AI, data-driven, machine-learning process that many of us are familiar with – if not by name, then by annoying experiences related to the online advertisements for products and services that come across our devices.

We leave behind cookie crumbs of information about ourselves nearly every time we click as we browse the Internet and shop online. These platforms gather this personalized information and sell it to marketers who use it to customize their pitches to us.

This is not new to many of you – hyper-personalized ads no longer make us go “Hmmmm.”

There’s a new application of hyper-personalization, though, that’s still in its infancy. And thanks to blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (AI), it will deliver a far more substantive and meaningful difference in our lives than any ads for sneakers, cruises, or wineries.

Hyper-individualized learning – in the form of educational content and subsequent credentialing – is just around the corner.

Always Learning, Always Documenting

As we progress in our fields, hobbies, and passions, how can we receive documentable credit for the very unique skills and expertise we develop?

If someone reads 1,000 books, is that the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in college? How about if they watch 1,000 movies? Obviously, the right answer is … “It depends.” It depends on the books and movies and our ability to absorb new information from them.

As we’ve discussed in the past, learning will become more customized, and incremental learning will become more diverse and measurable. Micro-credentials will soon be available not only for what we learn but what we achieve and master. All of these items will be stored immutably on blockchain, and we’ll make those records made available to others – prospective employers, deans of college admissions, etc. as we see fit.

Digital badges, bestowed by reputable organizations, can document professional credentials and certifications that go beyond education degrees. We need to go several levels deeper, however, in our quest to document personal accomplishments and achievements.

There currently is no credentialing for “long tail” learning. There are no college degrees or credits for niche forms of learning such as art made from walnut shells, or future fashions for people living on Mars, or podcasting for deaf people, or TikTok videos produced by 90-year-old Celtic Lords.

But it’s just a matter of time, thanks to blockchain technology.

Blockchain and AI technology enable hyper-individualized learning.

Our need for hyper-individualized learning is driven by several factors, including our time, our personalities, and an overwhelming need to feel unique in a world of over 7 billion people wanting many of the same things.

Blockchain’s tokenization and security features are the key to our future hyper-individualized and hyper-personalized learning environments.

Unlike traditional colleges that only credential their own in-house courses, the world is now in need of a trusted system outside of any individual school system or institution that will test, assess, and grant micro credits for virtually all topics, subjects, and forms of learning that align with the user’s interests or further their skills in a variety of areas.

Self-learning is always a little suspect. Yes, we’ve read the book or listened to the lectures or podcasts, but did we even pay attention? This key variable will be monitored, evaluated, and measured by AI.

Imagine this. Siri asks, “It looks like you’ve finished reading Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray. Based on your known attention span, your knowledge of the English language, the pace of your reading, and the lack of competing online distractions while you were reading, I estimate you grasped 87% of the message, and I will grant you a grade of “B.” Would you like to add this new compatibility token to your personal relationship strength profile?”

We need to be able to chart our own course, study things that interest and improve us and switch directions whenever we feel like it. This will be in stark contrast to the “you need to think what I think” and “you need to learn what I tell you to learn” approach to higher education.

Business World Applications

In the past, if you produced a product that only appealed to 1 in 35,000 people, it was a very hard sell. Few retailers would have wanted to carry that product on their store shelves. Today, however, the Internet enables us to connect buyers and sellers of niche products far more efficiently.

The same goes for people who have niche skills they would like to market or tell the world about.

Education is a lifelong process, and much of our professional education happens on the job. In similar ways, as described above, AI and blockchain can work together to document new skills in the business world.

Siri may grade you on your mastery of the principles found in the classic business book Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin and grant you a business management skill token once you’ve completed your review of that material.

In the course of a normal workday, AI can add to that cache of individual accomplishment as its language processing program tracks a meeting discussion, records salient contributions, attributes them to individuals, and tokenizes them on the blockchain, adding a proof point for each person’s valuable contribution and expertise.

It will even grant an accomplishment credit to someone who has expertly run an annual organizational planning meeting over Zoom!

Niche skills come in a variety of categories and flavors – they’re as unlimited as the types of personalities of the people in this world. So, if you need additional motivation for continuing your education and self-improvement, in the future you’ll be able to build an impressive personal resume documenting those skills and the knowledge that make you … you.