Like it or not, we will soon need ways to confirm that we are human in a world of machines, avatars and AI deepfakes – a Silicon Valley variant on what science fiction author Philip K. Dick called “spurious realities.” Opportunity calls for salesmen, researchers and digital ID startups to offer just such services, which often require said humans to register their biometrics.
The concept is at the core of the World ID project, which OpenAI CEO Sam Altman founded to solve a problem he partly helped to create with the ChatGPT AI engine. The World Network, which began its life as Worldcoin, invites users to scan their irises using a purpose-built biometric device called an Orb. In doing so, they can create a World ID that enables access to financial services, identity verification and digital wallet tools built on decentralized networks. But the key point, so to speak, is proof of personhood (PoP) – a unique identifier that confirms someone as a real human rather than an AI bot.
Since rebranding to World Network, in a pivot away from cryptocurrency and toward a broader agenda, the company has tried to sell the term “proof of human.” Less grammatically vexing is its proposition that the World Network is, primarily, a protocol. Part of the reason for that is that it is no longer the only one.
More firms use biometrics as basis for proof-of-personhood
Where there is a market, there is competition. Firms offering similar services to World are beginning to emerge. Last month saw the Humanity Protocol blockchain-based digital identity project launch the first phase of its testnet, providing proof of personhood by scanning palm biometrics to generate a unique Human ID.
Now, MSN reports that venture firm Cyber Fund, run by the co-founders of large decentralized finance firm Lido, are among crypto execs planning to launch a blockchain identity platform “aimed squarely at competing with World Network.”
X having been taken (and possibly doomed) by incoming federal axeman Elon Musk, the group led by Konstantin Lomashuk and Vasiliy Shapovalov has christened their project “Y.” If it is a question, it is not being asked politely: MSN cites a verified document entitled “Y vs. Worldcoin” which lays out plans to amplify controversies surrounding the firm, “from privacy concerns, to accusations of exploitative user recruitment practices, to a generalized phobia of the project’s metallic iris-scanning Orb.”
Monitoring ‘traces,’ Y eliminates need for device
A selling point of Y is that it does not require a device with a budget sci-fi aesthetic to provide its service. Somewhat less appealing is the system it uses instead of biometrics. Y will “look at the traces people leave behind while using the internet to verify they are human” – purportedly a more private and secure method for PoP than iris scans, less vulnerable to data hacks and identity theft.
Data from users’ existing socials and blockchain activity will go into Y’s calculation, as will the Ethereum Attestation Service, a set of tools people can use to formally “attest” to the accuracy of certain data. The result, says Y, will be a “nuanced” personhood score, in contrast to World’s binary, human-or-not system.
However, the project offers little in the way of detail on how it will implement its “crypto-super app.” Its strategy is explicit about wanting to attract maximum attention – a key characteristic of quasi-megalomaniacal tech schemes, liable to backfire on it at some point. World’s connections to Altman and its long rap sheet of privacy investigations are easy fodder, but likely not enough to convince users that customized internet tracking is any less creepy than eyeball scanning.
Palm, face, iris: all aboard the decentralized ID express
Meanwhile, Humanity Protocol’s testnet has already reached 500,000 participants. Its privacy pitch involves “sharding” palm scans. According to its website, “sharding is a process that breaks data into smaller, encrypted fragments (or shards) distributed across multiple nodes in a decentralized network.” In this, it is not dissimilar to World Network’s “anonymized multi-party computation” tech.
AI firm DecideAI has issued a release noting the integration of its biometric identity verification solution, DecideID, into the Solana blockchain, enabling PoP capabilities on the chain. Its tech “analyzes facial movement, depth and micro-expressions to confirm user authenticity, using Zero-Knowledge proofs to protect personal data during the verification process.”
“DecideID is positioned to set a new standard in identity verification across the blockchain space,” says Decide AI CEO Raheel Govindji. “The Solana integration is just the beginning, and we anticipate a significant surge in user growth and adoption as we continue to lead innovation in decentralized identity solutions.”
Digital identity is the text messaging of blockchain: Bohrer-Bilowitzki
Per the release, “this integration places DecideID among notable Proof-of-Personhood initiatives such as World, Proof of Humanity, Idena, CorePass, and Anima Protocol.” The blockchain is getting busy, as firms jockey to amass what might be called, in aggregate, “peoplehood.” (Experts prefer “personhood credentials.”)
And the use case may prove to be what finally pushes blockchain technology past its reputation as a buzzword into widely accepted use. Writing for Crypto.news, blockchain tech CEO Boris Bohrer-Bilowitzki argues that digital identity is to web3 what text messaging was to cell phones: a game-changing “eureka moment.”
“Blockchain ledgers will keep immutable proof and record that you are who you say you are,” he writes. “I don’t mean you’ll use a Bored Ape to confirm your humanity (though you could, I guess). Instead, we will create identity tokens that can’t be transferred, duplicated, or decrypted. They will be the lynchpin in the modern wallet.”
Article Topics
biometrics | blockchain | decentralized ID | face biometrics | Humanity Protocol | iris biometrics | palm biometrics | proof of personhood | World | Y
