Proof of Person

Tom Cruise's Eyes

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Friends,

I get a little bamboozled when I read about the new advances that are happening in tech, trying to figure out whether something is going to change the world or is just an edge case scam - or somewhere in between. There are linked articles to Sam Altman’s Worldcoin in the recommended links. But if you haven’t heard of it, here’s the skinny:

• Worldcoin, a digital ID platform, launched on July 24 after three years of development and beta testing.

• Co-founded by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, Worldcoin offers users a verified digital identity, a cryptocurrency token called Worldcoin (WLD), and a crypto wallet app.

• The platform aims to address the difficulty in distinguishing between content generated by humans and AI by using "proof of personhood" through a digital passport.

• Users' identities are verified using iris scanning to create secure identification codes stored on a decentralized blockchain to prevent fraud and duplication.

• During beta testing, Worldcoin attracted over two million users and plans to expand scanning operations to numerous cities in 20 countries.

So, first things first - yes this is the same guy who is CEO and co-founder OpenAI - and secondly - this feels somewhat Minority Report-esque - scanning your eye to prove that you are who you say you are - a human.

Worldcoin uses iris scanning technology to produce "proof of person" for its users. Here's how it works:

1. Iris Scanning: When a user registers on the Worldcoin platform, their iris is scanned to create a unique and secure identification code.

2. Decentralized Blockchain: The generated identification code is then stored on a decentralized blockchain. This ensures that the information is tamper-proof and cannot be easily altered or duplicated.

3. Verification: Whenever the user engages in an online activity or uses the platform, their identity can be verified through the iris scan stored on the blockchain.

4. Preventing Fraud: The company claims that this system prevents the creation of false identities or engaging in fraudulent activities, as the iris scan provides a reliable and accurate way to establish a person's identity.

By utilizing iris scanning and blockchain technology, Worldcoin aims to create a trustworthy and efficient method of establishing and verifying a user's digital identity, ensuring authenticity in the digital world. Its goals are to enable democracy - but I find it a little icky that it’s also a cryptocurrency. To get verified, you need to visit one of 1.5K Orbs around the world.

This project is not new - it launched in 2019 - and I remember then thinking that this was crypto for your eyeballs - but it’s positioned as more than that. There is a coincidence that this comes less than a year from when ChatGPT was launched and also at a time when crypto is in a bit of turmoil.

I’ll continue to watch how this one plays out. I’m expecting Prood of Person as a new business model in an age of AI - and that’s how Worldcoin will make money - all while OpenAI continues to push the boundaries of what can happen. Check out the Techcrunch article below - and then deep dive a little further with Coindesk.

My two cents (coins!) worth - if this is really decentralised, and policed accordingly - this could be the bridge between physical and digital that we have needed - and this becomes a realised use case for crypto. Or if not, a black-market for your iris data.

Stay Curious - and don’t forget to be amazing,

Rahim

Here are my recommendations for this week:

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1. Robots say they have no plans to steal jobs or rebel against humans - Humanoid robots speak – with some awkward pauses – in ‘world first’ press conference at Geneva AI summit. Related: Aided by A.I. Language Models, Google’s Robots Are Getting Smart - I feel like we will come back to these stories in years to come - and the AI Bots will be laughing at us: “We fooled you big time MWAHAHAHA”

2. Stop trying to have the perfect vacation. You’re ruining everyone else’s. Entitlement and endless optimization have turned travel into an unfun bloodsport.

3. Why Dunkin’ and Lego rebrands succeeded – but X missed the mark - Twitter has swapped the fluffy bird that used to symbolize the social media platform for a spindly black X. Ditching the company’s well-known logo and changing its name to a letter often associated with danger, death and the unknown is only the latest user-aggravating step CEO Elon Musk has taken since he bought Twitter

4. A case for color blindness - Racial inequality provokes passionate opinions and varied ideas of how to build a fair, equitable society. One topic that's been contentiously debated for generations is color blindness: the concept that we should look beyond race when thinking about equity. In this talk, writer and podcast host Coleman Hughes makes a case in favour of the idea, sharing why he thinks the key to reducing inequality and easing racial tensions is replacing race-based policies with class-based ones.

5. The rise of makers: makers’ contributions result in significant outcomes in one part of the cycle and shift to the margins otherwise. Unrelated (lol): What are 'full-time children'? Young adults in China are rejecting the rat race and getting paid by their parents to do chores while living at home

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1. ‘A certain danger lurks there’: how the inventor of the first chatbot turned against AI - Computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum was there at the dawn of artificial intelligence – but he was also adamant that we must never confuse computers with humans

2. Flipping a Switch and Making Cancers Self-Destruct - Researchers at Stanford devised a strange new molecule that could lead to drugs that arm genes and make cancers work against themselves.

3. We already have an AI Underclass: Search engines, ChatGPT, and other AI tools wouldn’t function without an army of contractors. Now those workers say they’re underpaid and mistreated. Related: India’s AI newsreaders are multilingual, cost-saving and ‘never tired’. Can they replace humans?

4. Intel CEO: ‘We’re going to build AI into every platform we build’: / Intel is about to launch Meteor Lake, its first chip with an onboard neural processor. It’s just the start. Related: Amazon is getting ready to launch a lot of broadband satellites

5. Tech giants form AI group focused on ensuring safety: Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI said the newly created Frontier Model Forum will draw on the expertise of its members to minimize AI risks and support industry standards. Related: Sam Altman’s Worldcoin eyeball-scanning crypto project launches

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