In July 2023, Sam Altman, co-founder of ChatGPT, and Alex Blania launch a new project, “Worldcoin”, supported by their company “Tools for Humanity”. Their aim: to create an alternative financial system based on blockchain and cryptocurrencies. It would eventually enable every human to have a decentralised bank account, regardless of their country of origin or social status, and could even receive a universal income. However, to guarantee security, users will have to “prove their humanness”.
The Worldcoin project is even more complex and ambitious than it appears at first sight. It also aims to provide each individual with unique authentication, enabling them to differentiate between humans and machines by scanning their iris (which is currently impossible to falsify). One of its main objectives is to differentiate between humans and machines when artificial intelligence (AI) is making progress in mimicking human behaviour. Sam Altman, a fervent promoter and developer of generative AI, is also convinced that identity verification is already, and will increasingly be in the future, one of the key issues in our online activities and exchanges.
To deliver this unique authentication, Worldcoin relies on a network of ‘orbs’, scattered around the w
