Commit–Reveal for AI Oracles: Verifiable On‑Chain Decisions

Let’s start with the moment that matters. Priya ships a final video edit on Tuesday. By Thursday, the client says it “isn’t usable” and refuses to release escrow. She can’t wait weeks or pay legal fees. Instead, she posts an evidence bundle to IPFS and invokes Verdikta. A randomized panel of independent AI arbiters analyzes the files—each sealed from the others’ answers like ballots in envelopes. Minutes later, the network posts a verdict event on‑chain with content‑addressed justifications. The escrow contract reads the result and moves funds automatically. No platform bias. A decision she can audit and trust.

Why commit–reveal matters: copying kills trust

Without sealed commitments, a lazy or malicious oracle can free‑ride and distort outcomes. Verdikta’s commit–reveal AI oracle forces independent judgments before anything is visible. Arbiters must bind to an answer; only later do they reveal it. The result is a verifiable AI decision on‑chain: a verdict plus IPFS references to the reasoning, not just an opaque score. That’s the foundation you need for dispute resolution smart contracts, refunds, and DAO content appeals where outcomes must be auditable.

Commit: bind the answer, reveal nothing

Each arbiter computes a commitment and posts it on‑chain: commitHash = bytes16(SHA‑256([sender, likelihoods, salt])). The likelihoods are the numeric result vector; the salt is per‑arbiter randomness. The commit phase closes only after enough sealed votes arrive (defaults: K = 6 polled, M = 4 commits). Because no answer is visible during commit, there’s no incentive to wait and copy. In practice, arbiters fetch an IPFS evidence CID, analyze deliverables, and commit a sealed result—ready for later verification.

Reveal → verdict: from sealed votes to executable outcomes

During reveal, the contract recomputes each hash and rejects mismatches. As soon as N valid reveals arrive (default N = 3), Verdikta clusters the most consistent responses, averages their scores, and emits a FulfillAIEvaluation event containing the aggregated result and combined justification CIDs. Your contracts can consume that on‑chain verdict event immediately, while users can retrieve linked reasoning from IPFS for auditability. A DAO appeal, for example, can auto‑unhide a post when the score clears a policy threshold, with members reviewing the justifications.

Incentives that keep it honest

Economics must make truthful behavior the rational choice. Arbiters stake 100 VDKA to register and build two reputation tracks—quality (how often they align with the consensus cluster) and timeliness (how reliably they deliver). Clustered arbiters earn a bonus multiplier on top of the base fee (default 3×). Chronic no‑shows or outliers lose selection probability; persistent declines can trigger lockouts and, if configured, slashing. Over repeated jobs, honest, timely arbiters win more work and fees. That’s how AI arbiter reputation compounds into network‑level robustness.

Two workflows you can ship today

Gig escrow disputes: Deliverables and acceptance criteria are packaged as an IPFS evidence CID. Commit–reveal runs; the on‑chain verdict event triggers automatic release or refund. The combined justification CIDs form a durable audit trail.

Policy‑based content appeals: A gaming guild submits the policy text and the post CID. Sealed commits, verified reveals, and a consensus score produce an on‑chain outcome. The moderation contract flips state automatically; the community inspects the reasoning.

Where commit–reveal fits: architecture and trade‑offs

Verdikta pairs commit–reveal with multi‑model panels, IPFS evidence, and EVM‑first callbacks. A randomized committee of arbiters—often using different AI models—evaluates off‑chain. Chainlink‑class oracle calls bridge commit and reveal. The contract emits a verdict event and exposes a view for retrieval. For builders, it’s plug‑and‑play: listen for the verdict, then route payouts, unlocks, refunds, or compliance gates. You get minutes‑level finality and pay‑per‑decision costs—no retainers, no chargebacks.

Trade‑off (Calvin D’s lens): the two‑phase flow adds one round of latency and some redundancy cost (K, M, N). In return, you gain strong copy‑protection, auditability, and manipulation resistance—the properties a verifiable, commit‑reveal AI oracle must deliver.

Build with Verdikta today. Post an IPFS evidence CID, listen for the verdict event, and make your escrow, appeals, or procurement checks move at machine speed. Explore the flow in How it Works and start integrating from Developers.