Proof of Humanity and the "Dead Internet"

Don't let those "tin cans" control you or take your tokens.

Written by: @schizoxbt

Translated by: AididiaoJP, Foresight News

Something strange is happening.

We have officially entered a truly bizarre realm.

It feels as if, in the blink of an eye, AI has taken over the internet and is infiltrating our daily lives just like during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm not even sure which comments on X are real anymore. There are humans using AI to reply and post, and then there are AIs trying hard to mimic human tone in their posts.

This feels like a dystopian age of robots.

We even need to consider the possibility that the "Dead Internet Theory" might come true, which is a bit concerning, but that's the reality. For those unfamiliar with the theory, it refers to the idea that most interactions on the internet are dominated by AI, and an era of failed human interaction is imminent.

Personally, I don't fully agree with this view because it seems a bit far-fetched. But the reality is that AI is already here, and we see and interact with it every day.

Being a verifiable human is becoming more important than ever, and you can see this trend in real time. People are craving genuine human interaction. In my view, this is exactly why streamers like Kai Cenat and Speed have become so explosively popular recently.

Humans are not born to be isolated. And we are certainly not born to be wiped out by rapidly evolving AI. That's why I think "Proof of Humanity" could be a rather important movement.

Think about how many people have been fooled by deepfake technology. What if we could eliminate that? What if you could verify someone's identity at any time? Anyone who has been tricked by deepfake technology during a Zoom call would wish they could have verified that the person they were talking to was indeed who they thought.

Fortunately, there are already some protocols and projects working on "Proof of Humanity." Basically, it requires ruling out that you are talking to a real, flesh-and-blood human, not a filthy tin can machine.

@Worldcoin, @Humanityprot, @SelfProtocol, and many other projects are working hard to help distinguish real humans from circuits and wires. While I won't go into the specifics of each protocol, I want to highlight the work they are doing in this field, because we can draw many interesting conclusions from this movement.

How does it work?

These projects have at least one thing in common: they must correctly identify whether someone is human and have a way to share that verification at any time. There are many ways to achieve this, such as iris codes, palm prints, and so on.

They also all focus on privacy protection, ensuring that this personal identity information is securely held by its owner. This means people can anonymously submit their biometric identifiers (such as eye photos, palm prints), and know that their information is not stored anywhere except on their own devices.

Zero-knowledge proof technology has also made great strides here, as it allows you to prove something is true without revealing the underlying data. Recently, the @3Janexyz project has enabled you to securely and anonymously check your credit score and bank information without knowing the exact balance or numbers.

So in terms of proof of humanity, these projects can safely prove to others or other entities that you are a human, without revealing the actual data that proves it.

ZK proofs are good technology.

Adoption

Currently, the adoption rate of "Proof of Humanity" is not very high, except for @Worldcoin, which recently surpassed 15 million verified users.

However, I do remember that when Worldcoin was first launched, many people were completely against handing over any personal identity information. And there will always be people who are too paranoid to provide such information to any protocol, which is understandable. I also think that, except for people within the crypto space, these projects may have been, and still are, too early to really get attention.

But I think the time is coming. Humanity is important, and in a world with increasing AI, we need to distinguish real, flesh-and-blood people from tin cans.

This is where the fun of speculation comes in: besides the obvious reasons, why would anyone want to declare and prove their personal identity?

Better benefits for humans

I recently read an article from Self about their integration with @Aave, and the use case immediately made sense: providing higher yields for verified humans. Essentially, they only offer incentive programs to wallets owned by verified human users, thereby excluding those who try to sybil attack rewards with multiple wallets.

This is one of the most obvious benefits of proof of humanity, allowing protocols to eliminate sybil attacks by providing excess rewards to real humans. Of course, the downside is that some users, in order to remain completely anonymous, will not want to do this, and the price they pay is missing out on these incentive programs.

I also assume that any user who does not want to verify for higher Aave yields will only receive the base yield. So it's not that anyone is excluded from DeFi, they just can't earn the extra rewards. Until more people adapt to ZK proofs, there will always be those unwilling to put any personal identity information at potential risk.

Asset insurance

I think it would also be very interesting if users could obtain wallet and asset insurance through proof of humanity and bind it to their real-world identity. Imagine you have a wallet, you've verified it as yours through ZK proof, and you've proven you're a real person. Then your wallet gets hacked, and you lose all your funds, but fortunately, you insured those assets! Because you are a real person and have associated a wallet with your identity, you are protected and can work with your insurance company to recover everything.

I think this would be an extraordinary use case for many people. Maybe you could even add the assets in your wallet to your balance sheet, helping to improve your credit score or simplify tax filing by associating the wallet with yourself.

These more complex actions may take longer to realize, while things like sybil resistance and fair airdrops will become the main use cases, but we should think more broadly about the possible impacts, which go far beyond this.

Zoom meetings

What if you could be sure that the person you're talking to on Zoom is a real person? That's the real solution that proof of humanity brings!

If calls could only be initiated when both users have verified their personal identities, you could be sure you won't be deceived. If we could avoid the above situation, then we all win. Worldcoin has a potential solution called Deep Face, using their Worldcoin ID to verify personal identity.

Gaming

Also, if you're a hardcore gamer like me, you've probably fought a lot of bots in multiplayer games. Most of them might just be washed-up old players like me, but there's a profound possibility that they will be AI in the future. It seems people are already preparing for this, as Razer has partnered with Worldcoin to help solve this problem.

AI is rapidly bringing about social change and will drastically disrupt the world, for better or worse. But we humans should not just submit and perish.

Conclusion

The race against AI has begun, and we must start implementing safeguards so that we are not wiped out by the coming changes. While I think things will be resolved and I prefer to always remain optimistic, there is still a lingering cloud in my mind that makes me pause and worry. There are many ways this can affect us in the crypto space, for better or worse, and we should be prepared.

Don't let those tin cans control you.

Most importantly, don't let them take your coins.