Proof-of-Personhood: Tech's Triumph Over State Monopoly
With the challenges AI brings, companies Like Apple and Worldcoin Will Challenge Governments in the Race for Digital Proof of Personhood
In economics, a State Monopoly is when a government agency or government corporation is the sole provider of a particular good or service, and competition is prohibited by law. The most known example of such monopoly is what is called in political philosophy the “Monopoly on violence” (or “monopoly on the legal use of force”), describing the state’s legitimate use of physical force (i.e., army, police, etc.).
Another example of such a monopoly, which is far less thought of, is the Monopoly on Identification - the monopoly on issuing identity documents, such as passports, national ID cards, driving licenses, etc. Identification documents are needed for buying alcohol in the shop next door, flying overseas, buying a house, getting married, opening a bank account, collecting taxes, enforcing criminal and civil laws, and countless other crucial activities. In fact, this monopoly is so fundamental to modern-day life that it can be used as an enforcement tool (as it sometimes does) and to undermine basic human rights (freedom of movement).
However, this state monopoly might be disrupted in the future, led by the challenges AI brings upon us. Identifying humans in the digital realm is becoming extremely difficult, resulting in the need for new and highly technical solutions and the increasing leaning of governments on tech companies to help as Identification Suppliers.
The implications of this shift (governments relying on tech companies for identification) are worth thinking about, and hence, I write about it. I don’t have solutions yet, but I am actively thinking about this.
In this essay:
We will start by understanding why is Identification so important
And why highly technical solutions are becoming an extremely crucial need,
Then, we will see how the tech giants are positioned better to provide such solutions, examining the existing players and the new industry of “Proof of Personhood,”
We will talk about the shift period and what it might look like,
And lastly, we will see why this can be problematic
The modern state, Identification and AI
Identification is essential for the functioning of a modern state. Without it, we cannot efficiently collect taxes, raise an army, distribute welfare services, invest in infrastructure, resolve disputes at scale, or operate any system that, well, requires the use of identities.
In the past 20 years, our society and all these activities have increasingly transitioned to an online and digital landscape. This shift, combined with recent advancements in AI capabilities, presents a new challenge: advanced AI systems that can be indistinguishable from humans.
Leaders and tech giants worldwide are raising concerns about AI and bots flooding the internet. These concerns highlight the potential for the internet to become overwhelming for humans, making it difficult to identify whether they are interacting with a real person or not. This situation poses significant challenges for maintaining trust and security in our digital interactions.
New industry: “Proof of Personhood”
A new technological space called “Proof of Personhood” aims to address the growing problem of sophisticated AI bots by creating a digital infrastructure to prove human identity online.
One of the more known players in this space is Worldcoin, led by Alex Blania and Sam Altman. Their system uses biometric technology (iris scans via a device called the Orb), to create unique digital identities on a blockchain, known as World IDs (It is a cryptocurrency, where each human/iris get one World ID).
“More than three years ago we founded Worldcoin with the ambition of creating a new identity and financial network owned by everyone; the rollout begins today. If successful, we believe Worldcoin could drastically increase economic opportunity, scale a reliable solution for distinguishing humans from AI online while preserving privacy, enable global democratic processes, and eventually show a potential path to AI-funded UBI.” — Worldcoin
Apple:
Though not yet officially in this space, Apple is probably positioned in the most ideal place for winning this transition, and enable the world with digital proof-of-personhood, for a few reasons:
They already have the biometric technology to identify humans digitally (Face ID, Touch ID, veins structure via Apple Watch)
This technology is already distributed across the world (in 2023, Apple surpassed 2 billion active devices!)
Apple has a well-established commercial relationship with the US government, providing iPhone to US officials.
Apple, for a long time, is trying to position itself as the privacy company.
So, What’s the issue?
The main issue with this growing trend, of commercial companies going after human identification, is that - if they will own this industry, and will be the go-to providers/suppliers of “Proof of personhood,” it will give them an unprecedented power against nation states, and its citizens.
Worldcoin is directly aiming to be part of the democratic processes (“enable global democratic processes, and eventually show a potential path to AI-funded UBI”) - now, if that will be the case, if they will define who’s a human and have rights, and who’s not - then what?
By giving up that crucial component of their monopoly, nation states might decline in influence and power, to a non-democratic entities, the commercial companies.
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Who vouch your personhood?
Right now - it is the state. They give you an ID.
But, with the speed of AI development, we must ask the question - can countries actually be efficient enough to roll out the needed technological solution for the AI problem? Most of the passports in the world today are still not biometric, while Apple, right now, can just roll out a new software update, issuing IDs to their iPhone users. These IDs will be more reliable than most passports currently being used to cross borders all around the world.
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(I am not saying the state should have this power either - but definitely not a for-profit entity.)
Not Unprecedented
When I mention to people my concerns of how a commercial entity can overthrown a state, they see it as a too far-fetched, like “there is no chance, the government can do whatever they want, they can take over Apple if they want to.”
To them, I say - go read about the East India Company (EIC).
EIC literally overthrown the Mughal Empire in India in 1757, at the battle of Plassey - a moment where a commercial corporation first acquired real and tangible political power. At one point, EIC held a private army of 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the standing British army (!!!).
In today’s modern world, power is not necessarily the number of troops you have. The power that is being given to corporations should be thoroughly thought-of.
What can we do?
As I said at the beginning - I am not sure.
I do think that first step is to make sure these technologies are being developed as Open Source (which Worldcoin seem to be committed to). This will create a somewhat democratic nature into their system, and will allow us, humans, to take part in the decision making of the technology, or at least branch-out.
Another thing we need to think about is this new space of technology for protecting your biometric data. You will need to protect it after it was collected into a digital form, and to protect it from thief in-real-life.
Lastly, we need to find a better way to digitalize and adjust the three-centuries-old democratic system to the age of AI.
Thank you for reading. If you liked my content, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d love to talk with more people and discuss everything: tech, philosophy, AI, ideas, Lex Fridman, startups, software, science, whatever!
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