Blockchain in the context of COVID-19

Maciej Zieliński

16 Apr 2020
Blockchain in the context of COVID-19

The world's pandemic is constantly affecting our daily lives, forcing us to redefine our view of many branches of life and business. Recent days have brought many dynamic changes, and more are constantly appearing on the horizon. But are there also new opportunities besides new problems? Where can blockchain allow us to adapt to the current situation?

Supply and distribution of medicines and medical equipment

In crisis situations, the management of the supply of medicines and medical equipment is a key issue which, as the covid-19 pandemic shows, should be secured globally, and any mistake can have tragic consequences for hundreds of patients. The current situation shows how flawed modern systems can be, which are unable to protect us e.g. from periodic shortages of products as important as masks.

 The supply chains of protection agents or medicines are extremely sensitive and susceptible to manipulation, and many parties with different and sometimes even conflicting interests are involved in them. Blockchain provides a secure platform to solve this problem, introducing greater data transparency and better product traceability. Because a blockchain record can only be verified and updated with a "smart contract", manipulating the block chain is also very difficult. 

Blockchain allows to work out a compromise and trust at protocol level between all parties involved. This is crucial in situations where demand for a particular product exceeds supply and product availability may prove to be inadequate to actual demand. Blockchain can allow us to create a decentralised system for the distribution of medicines in which the interests of one party do not take precedence over the other. 

One of the companies working to secure the drug supply chain using blockchain and IoT technology is Chronicled. The company has been on the market for several years now, implementing decentralized supply chain ecosystems and building a protocol-based solution to improve global trade in key industries, including pharmaceuticals.

Banking services  

The world's coronavirus pandemic forces us to redefine our view of many branches of business. Sources such as The Economist and Forbes have been telling us for several weeks about the real risk of a global economic crisis comparable to that of 2008. One of the sectors that are certainly facing dynamic changes is the financial one. 

Before 2008, banks had little competition, which allowed them to monopolise financial services. This allowed them to charge high commissions, add hidden fees to the rates offered or overstate currency margins. It was them who dictated the conditions - if the consumer needed money he could only go to them. When it comes to the financial services market, there was practically no other choice. Customers often followed the rules created by banks, which were often unfavorable for them, because they usually had no other viable options. 

However, the events that started with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 led to an accumulation of aversion to the financial system at the time, which was accompanied by a general lack of confidence in the banking sector. Changes in customer mentality triggered a demand for different solutions from the previous ones, which created an opportunity for new players to enter a market where they started to offer better, more competitive services. This has triggered dynamic changes in the industry. 

An example of using blockchain technology on the banking services market is Request. This decentralised network based on Ethereum enables users to, among other things, perform transactions between themselves, send or request payments or issue invoices. Whereas developed by Symbiont and Ipreo companies Synaps  using blockchain-based smart contracts seeks to improve and automate the market for credit syndicates. 

Today, when the coronavirus pandemic brings with it another threat of financial crisis, the demand for fintech is likely to increase sharply again. Many consumers will lose confidence in the traditional form of banking services and start looking for alternative options. Again, this will create an opportunity for those who will offer new, innovative products based on modern technologies such as blockchain, offering opportunities such as peer to peer transactions or the decentralisation of asset transfer. 

Verification of identity

The reduction of social relations contributes to the growing popularity of remote communication tools. This will create a demand for solutions for authentication of digital certificates and identities verified by cryptography, not by the participation of a person. Basing the verification process on blockchain is simply cheaper and more secure than using a third party.  At a time when the lack of trust in relationships, especially business relationships, seems to be a common problem, obtaining it at the level of IT protocol seems to be a solution created for the needs of the modern market 

An example of a company operating in this area is Spanish Validated ID provide digital identity solutions designed primarily for remote working and e-commerce. Their ViDSigner is a comprehensive electronic signature service that allows users to issue honored signatures in several ways - including a sliding card, biometric signature or automatic seal.

New, safer asset transfer methods

Transferring business interactions to the Internet will increase the demand for secure asset transfer methods. Blockchain seems to be the ideal solution here. For several years now, we have been observing how the tokenization and trading of assets in a decentralized system based on it is gaining popularity in various industries, including those as different from each other as real estate and music. When a blockchain occurs, the need to engage an external third party disappears, so that asset transfer processes can be faster and become cheaper to maintain. Additionally, recording transaction data in the blockchain reduces their vulnerability to manipulation or fraud. 

Such solutions are implemented by 2014, among others, by the company Bitmark, which claims that although modern societies have developed property rights and intellectual property rights, they have not protected digital content. Therefore, through the use of blockchain technology, it enables the transfer of digital content in a peer to peer system, including health data, digital art collections, music rights and medical records.  

Certificates of authenticity based on cryptography

According to Maciej Jędrzejczyk. CEE Blockchain Leader’a at IBM  may reveal many inaccuracies in the supply chain depending on demand and production from China. This will lead to the disclosure of counterfeit certificates of authenticity of parts of the products originating from there. As he predicts, "this will lead manufacturers to use irrefutable proofs of origin based on cryptography rather than on authority".

Blockchain can record transactions in the supply chain and provide a unique identity for each product unit, tracking its journey in the supply chain. In addition, the unit can be paired with an NFC chip, QR code or RFID tag to enable real-time digital recording of progress. The Shanghai company is already working on this mechanism VeChain dealing with the problem of authenticating luxury goods. 

Hope for the entertainment industry

The entertainment industry seems to be one of the most affected by the outbreak. Thousands of cancelled concerts, festivals and other music events have brought and will bring losses of many millions. In a market dominated by giants such as Spotify, iTunes and YouTube, the creators will suffer most. While streaming portals are more active, the royalties paid to artists represent only a small percentage of the profits from playing their music. Blockchain-based portals such as Opus and Vezt, which are able to pay artists almost 100% of the profits thanks to the use of blockchain technology, become an alternative for artists. For many artists, they can be the key to survival in such a rapidly changing market. 

The consequences of the current situation will be coming back to us severely in the coming months. However, in addition to numerous threats, there are also new opportunities. It is up to us whether we will be able to take advantage of them and limit the losses resulting from the pandemic. The technology may again prove to be irreplaceable here. We will probably need modern solutions such as blockchain as never before.

Reducing losses, solving current problems and adapting to upcoming changes are areas where modern technology will prove necessary. In the context of an epidemic, many blockchain-based solutions turn out to be even more valid, there are also new areas where the implication of this technology may be the most optimal choice. The coming weeks will require the implementation of significant changes in many branches of business, without a doubt blockchain is a technology able to do this.

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Master UI Component Creation with AI: The Ultimate Guide for Developers

Gracjan Prusik

24 Mar 2025
Master UI Component Creation with AI: The Ultimate Guide for Developers

Introduction

Modern frontend development is evolving rapidly, and creating UI components with AI tools is helping developers save time while enhancing interface quality. With AI, we can not only speed up the creation of UI components but also improve their quality, optimize styles, and ensure better accessibility.

This article explores how creating UI components with AI is transforming frontend development by saving time and improving workflows. Specifically, we will discuss:

  • Generating components from images,
  • AI for style analysis and optimization,
  • Automatic style conversion and code migration,
  • AI in generating UI animations.

Creating UI Components with AI from Images

One of the interesting applications of AI in frontend development is the ability to generate components from an image. AI can recognize the structure of the interface and generate HTML/CSS or JSX code that matches the provided image. One of the most popular tools for UI creation is Lovable.

For testing, let's see how the tool performs in creating a simple contact form from the page you are currently on, which is Nextrope.

Query:

"Recreate the image I've sent you in Next.js using CSS."

Sample image used in the query:

The result received:

Tworzenie komponentów UI - Wygenerowany widok

Lovable did an excellent job transforming the image into code. The view is fully responsive. It’s important to remember that the more precise the request, the better the AI will replicate the expected view. However, even with a simple command, the tool performed surprisingly well.

Of course, AI has its limitations. It still makes quite a few mistakes. The generated code still requires review and fixes from the developer, but in some cases, the entire process is significantly sped up—correcting the code often takes less time than creating the component from scratch.

Optimizing UI Components with AI Tools for Style Improvements

This problem of inaccurate code reproduction by AI can be partially addressed by using it to analyze and improve styles. Tools like ChatGPT, DeepSeek and Claude are capable of not only generating code but also diagnosing CSS errors and suggesting why a particular style might not be working as expected.

Simple example: Why is the div not centered?

Query: "Why is this div not centered?"

AI analyzes the code and provides the following response:

Problem: The parent container does not have a defined width or display: flex.
Solution: Add the appropriate styles to the parent container.

.parent {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
  width: 100vw;
  height: 100vh;
}

AI for Automatic Style Conversion and Code Migration in UI Components

AI can assist with style conversion between different technologies, such as transferring code from traditional CSS to Styled Components or Tailwind CSS.

Let's assume we have a style written in traditional CSS:

.button {
  background-color: blue;
  color: white;
  padding: 10px 20px;
  border-radius: 5px;
  transition: background-color 0.3s ease;
}

.button:hover {
  background-color: darkblue;
}

We can use AI for automatic conversion to Styled Components:

import styled from "styled-components";

const Button = styled.button`
  background-color: blue;
  color: white;
  padding: 10px 20px;
  border-radius: 5px;
  transition: background-color 0.3s ease;

  &:hover {
    background-color: darkblue;
  }
`;

export default Button;

AI can also assist in migrating code between frameworks, such as from React to Vue or from CSS to Tailwind.

This makes style migration easier and faster.

How AI Enhances UI Animation Creation

Animations are crucial for enhancing user experience in interfaces, but they are not always provided in the project specification. In such cases, developers have to come up with how the animations should look, which can be time-consuming and require significant creativity. AI, in this context, becomes helpful because it can automatically generate CSS animations or animations using libraries like Framer Motion, saving both time and effort.

Example: Automatically Generated Button Animation

Suppose we need to add a subtle scaling animation to a button but don't have a ready-made animation design. Instead of creating it from scratch, AI can generate the code that meets our needs.

Code generated by AI:

import { motion } from "framer-motion";

const AnimatedButton = () => (
  <motion.button
    whileHover={{ scale: 1.1 }}
    whileTap={{ scale: 0.9 }}
    className="bg-blue-500 text-white px-4 py-2 rounded-lg"
  >
    Press me
  </motion.button>
);

In this way, AI accelerates the animation creation process, providing developers with a simple and quick option to achieve the desired effect without the need to manually design animations from scratch.

Summary

AI significantly accelerates the creation of UI components. We can generate ready-made components from images, optimize styles, transform code between technologies, and create animations in just a few seconds. Tools like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Claude and Lovable are a huge help for frontend developers, enabling faster and more efficient work.

In the next part of the series, we will take a look at:

If you want to learn more about how AI is impacting the entire automation of frontend processes and changing the role of developers, check out our blog article: AI in Frontend Automation – How It's Changing the Developer's Job?

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AI in Real Estate: How Does It Support the Housing Market?

Miłosz Mach

18 Mar 2025
AI in Real Estate: How Does It Support the Housing Market?

The digital transformation is reshaping numerous sectors of the economy, and real estate is no exception. By 2025, AI will no longer be a mere gadget but a powerful tool that facilitates customer interactions, streamlines decision-making processes, and optimizes sales operations. Simultaneously, blockchain technology ensures security, transparency, and scalability in transactions. With this article, we launch a series of publications exploring AI in business, focusing today on the application of artificial intelligence within the real estate industry.

AI vs. Tradition: Key Implementations of AI in Real Estate

Designing, selling, and managing properties—traditional methods are increasingly giving way to data-driven decision-making.

Breakthroughs in Customer Service

AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants are revolutionizing how companies interact with their customers. These tools handle hundreds of inquiries simultaneously, personalize offers, and guide clients through the purchasing process. Implementing AI agents can lead to higher-quality leads for developers and automate responses to most standard customer queries. However, technical challenges in deploying such systems include:

  • Integration with existing real estate databases: Chatbots must have access to up-to-date listings, prices, and availability.
  • Personalization of communication: Systems must adapt their interactions to individual customer needs.
  • Management of industry-specific knowledge: Chatbots require specialized expertise about local real estate markets.

Advanced Data Analysis

Cognitive AI systems utilize deep learning to analyze complex relationships within the real estate market, such as macroeconomic trends, local zoning plans, and user behavior on social media platforms. Deploying such solutions necessitates:

  • Collecting high-quality historical data.
  • Building infrastructure for real-time data processing.
  • Developing appropriate machine learning models.
  • Continuously monitoring and updating models based on new data.

Intelligent Design

Generative artificial intelligence is revolutionizing architectural design. These advanced algorithms can produce dozens of building design variants that account for site constraints, legal requirements, energy efficiency considerations, and aesthetic preferences.

Optimizing Building Energy Efficiency

Smart building management systems (BMS) leverage AI to optimize energy consumption while maintaining resident comfort. Reinforcement learning algorithms analyze data from temperature, humidity, and air quality sensors to adjust heating, cooling, and ventilation parameters effectively.

Integration of AI with Blockchain in Real Estate

The convergence of AI with blockchain technology opens up new possibilities for the real estate sector. Blockchain is a distributed database where information is stored in immutable "blocks." It ensures transaction security and data transparency while AI analyzes these data points to derive actionable insights. In practice, this means that ownership histories, all transactions, and property modifications are recorded in an unalterable format, with AI aiding in interpreting these records and informing decision-making processes.

AI has the potential to bring significant value to the real estate sector—estimated between $110 billion and $180 billion by experts at McKinsey & Company.

Key development directions over the coming years include:

  • Autonomous negotiation systems: AI agents equipped with game theory strategies capable of conducting complex negotiations.
  • AI in urban planning: Algorithms designed to plan city development and optimize spatial allocation.
  • Property tokenization: Leveraging blockchain technology to divide properties into digital tokens that enable fractional investment opportunities.

Conclusion

For companies today, the question is no longer "if" but "how" to implement AI to maximize benefits and enhance competitiveness. A strategic approach begins with identifying specific business challenges followed by selecting appropriate technologies.

What values could AI potentially bring to your organization?
  • Reduction of operational costs through automation
  • Enhanced customer experience and shorter transaction times
  • Increased accuracy in forecasts and valuations, minimizing business risks
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Want to implement AI in your real estate business?

Nextrope specializes in implementing AI and blockchain solutions tailored to specific business needs. Our expertise allows us to:

  • Create intelligent chatbots that serve customers 24/7
  • Implement analytical systems for property valuation
  • Build secure blockchain solutions for real estate transactions
Schedule a free consultation

Or check out other articles from the "AI in Business" series