Feature image credit: BBC
We live in an era of the possible. Just because something is possible doesn’t mean we should do it.
Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, has announced plans to introduce a new cryptocurrency designed to determine if someone is a robot or a human.
Altman is calling the new cryptocurrency, Worldcoin, and is giving away 25 Worldcoins free to anyone who signs up. Worldcoins are currently valued $2 per coin. So, those signing up would get $50 large just for joining.
A New Dystopian Present
You might be getting excited to join a new crypto project and getting $50 at the beginning in the hopes those coins gain value. In order to signup for Worldcoin you’ll need to scan your eyeball using an ominous looking silver Orb.
Worldcoin’s premise is to determine whether or not someone is a robot. One way of doing that is scanning someone’s unique retina. The idea of surrendering more biometric property to another entity is suspicious at the least.
“Worldcoin could drastically increase economic opportunity, scale a reliable solution for distinguishing humans from AI online while preserving privacy.
Sam Altman
Altman has signed up 2 million people, mainly in Africa, Europe, and India. The people signing up are mostly men in their 20s and 30s according to anecdotal reporting by the BBC in London.
Responses from the tech world have been mixed. Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterim, thinks the idea is great because specialized hardware could be used to maintain user privacy. He thought the Orb had “dystopian vibez,” however. Twitter and BlueSky founder, Jack Dorsey, took an even more soylent-green-is-people track, “Vsit the Orb or the Orb will visit you..”
Worldcoin isn’t available in the US because of regulatory policies stateside. Honestly, I think that’s a good thing. We already willingly surrender lots of digital data to corporations. We should be more protective of our biometric and biological property like our DNA and retina scans. Our laws and regulations haven’t caught up to advances in technology and the race for profits will lead to many unethical decisions.