save the internet from AI bots<\/a> (a problem largely of his own making) is even more ambitious than I thought.<\/p>\nAltman is the chair of Tools for Humanity, which is developing the World project, which aims to \u201cverify\u201d the humanity of every person on Earth.<\/p>\n
For Time, Billy Perrigo reported that Tools for Humanity also hopes World will become \u201cthe world\u2019s largest financial network, through which it believes \u2018double-digit percentages of the global economy\u2019 will eventually flow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this really works,\u201d Altman said, \u201cit\u2019s like a fundamental piece of infrastructure for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sold on the need for such infrastructure: \u201cIn a best-case scenario,\u201d Perrigo writes, \u201cWorld ID could be a privacy-preserving way to fortify the internet against an AI-driven deluge of fake or deceptive content.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perrigo explains how in helpfully accessible terms: \u201cIf I were to use my World ID to access a website, that site would learn nothing about me except that I\u2019m human.\u201d<\/p>\n
The way to prove you\u2019re human is to prove you have eyeballs, as an Orb attendant explains: \u201cWe need a way to verify that we\u2019re human and not AI. So how do we do that? Well, humans have irises, but AI doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Irises are not the only thing that separates us from AIs, but they\u2019re the only thing that\u2019s provably unique.)<\/p>\n
World has signed up about 12 million users so far, which is probably not fast enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe internet will change very drastically sometime in the next 12 to 24 months,\u201d Tools for Humanity CEO Alex Blania told Time. \u201cSo we have to succeed, or I\u2019m not sure what else would happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
What would probably happen first is that the internet will be overrun by AIs.<\/p>\n
But Altman now says that\u2019s not his focus: \u201cIt\u2019s not like, \u2018Oh, we\u2019ve got to avoid the bot overrun\u2019 or whatever. It\u2019s just that we can do a lot of special things for humans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perrigo suspects that Altman is changing the narrative on World to better fit the narrative on OpenAI: \u201cTools for Humanity\u2019s mission may be shifting beyond simply proving humanity, and toward becoming the infrastructure that enables AI agents to proliferate with human authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lots of those AI agents will be created by Sam Altman\u2019s OpenAI.<\/p>\n
I find that a little disappointing because it muddies the narrative, but World still seems like a worthy cause to me, because what\u2019s the alternative?<\/p>\n
One way to contribute to the cause is to buy the World token, which has to have value so that Tools for Humanity can incentivize sign-ups, attract investors and motivate employees.<\/p>\n
Time quotes Tools for Humanity CEO Blania as saying that he\u2019s \u201creally excited to make a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n
That strikes a discordant note for an ostensibly mission-driven company, but if World works, he\u2019ll have earned it.<\/p>\n
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