Blockchain technology has rapidly gained popularity, permeating various fields due to its inherent features of security, transparency, and decentralization. Blockchain-based applications, spanning from financial transactions to supply chain management, have revolutionized numerous industries. Concurrently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques have emerged as a powerful tool for efficiently solving complex problems. The integration of AI into blockchain applications has shown promise in addressing key challenges such as security, consensus, scalability, and interoperability. While existing literature offers several surveys on the intersection of AI and blockchain, our work takes a distinct perspective by focusing on how AI solutions can enhance and optimize blockchain technology and its applications. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive literature overview of the methods that have been employed to improve blockchain technology through AI, encompassing machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing and reinforcement learning. Our contribution highlights AI’s potential to enhance blockchain, improving efficiency, security, and reliability of blockchain-based applications. By exploring AI’s role in consensus, smart contracts, and data privacy, it advances theory and practical applications, fostering innovation across sectors for a more secure and efficient digital future.