Fake virtual identities are nothing new. The ability to so easily create them has been both a boon for social media platforms — more “users” — and a scourge, tied as they are to the spread of conspiracy theories, distorted discourse and other societal ills.
Still, Twitter bots are nothing compared with what the world is about to experience, as any time spent with ChatGPT illustrates. Flash forward a few years and it will be impossible to know if someone is communicating with another mortal or a neural network.
Sam Altman knows this. Altman, famously, is the cofounder and the CEO of ChatGPT parent OpenAI and has long had more visibility than most into what’s around the corner than most. It’s why more than three years ago, he conceived of an experimental new company that could serve first and foremost as proof-of-personhood. Originally called Worldcoin, its three-part mission — to create a global ID, a global currency, and an app t...
