Sam Altman, the brain behind OpenAI and ChatGPT, has recently announced his newest venture, and it’s certainly turning heads. Whilst OpenAI has been no stranger to controversy, it looks like his new startup, Tools for Humanity, is causing even more of a stir.
Founded in 2019 by Sam Altman and Alex Blania, Tools for Humanity has been gaining a lot of attention for creating a space built by AI, that is free from AI.
The company has created a suite of tools, most famous amongst them is Orb, an eye-scanning device that can verify if a user is human.
What Does Tools For Humanity Actually Do?
Tools for Humanity is building ‘World’, an open-source global online network designed to be accessed only by humans. Before gaining access to World, people have to verify that they are human through an eye scan, which then gives them a secure and private digital identity to access it.
Their overall aim is to help people better distinguish between AI and humans online, especially in a world of deepfakes and sophisticated digital identities.
In short, World has been designed as an online space that is accessible by humans but free from AI and bots.
Their ecosystem of products includes:
The Orb
A silver sphere-like device that scans a person’s eye with thermal, 3D and infrared sensors to generate a unique code, proving that they are human without storing any kind of images that can be replicated.
It uses encrypted tech to take the image, verify that the user is human and generate a code called their World ID. No data regarding the person’s eye is kept in the system.
Only through verification by The Orb can a person access World. Think about the Orb as the bouncer of a club and World being the club that all humans, bots and AI want to access.
At the moment, the Orb has scanned 13 million people’s eyes in exchange for the company’s own cryptocurrency, WLD (Worldcoin). Which allows every human to own a piece of the network.
Tools for Humanity is also looking to create the Orb Mini, which will be a smaller version of the device.
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World
Described as the ‘real human network’, it’s an open-source network that was built to make sure humans benefit from AI but are also protected from it. Once verified by the Orb, users can access World using their World ID.
World is a space completely free from bots, AI and deepfakes. Everyone in the network is a verified human with their own secure digital identity. It’s free to join and designed to help humans stay protected online in a world being infiltrated by AI. Through World, users can access 400 Mini-Apps that bots and AI can’t access, in areas like gaming, finance, AI and systems.
World App
The World App is a digital wallet that provides access to World, whilst allowing users to manage all of their digital assets in one place.
World Spaces
To help continue building human connection, Tools for Humanity have also created physical spaces for WorldID verification, community events and educational resources.
Currently World Spaces exists in the following locations, but is looking to expand further: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States.
The Mission Behind Tools For Humanity
One of the reasons Tools for Humanity is so interesting is that Sam Altman, the man who unleased generative AI into the world, is now helping protect against it.
Tools for Humanity is designed to protect humans from the digital world by providing online spaces that they know won’t be infiltrated by bots, deepfakes and AI. And as AI becomes more intelligent and harder to spot, the desire for online spaces free from it will become even bigger.
How Popular is Tools For Humanity?
Tools for Humanity has generated a lot of discussion in the AI community. And it looks like its tools are catching on. So far, the company has verified around 17.5 million people, but has its sights set on 100 million.
It also has 169 countries with WorldID users. Considering there are 195 countries in the whole world, it’s doing pretty well.
When it comes to the amount of tokens distributed, the number currently sits at over 844 million, with over 1.9 million wallet transactions every day.
A New Age of AI
In a world being defined by AI, it’s interesting to see one startup stand up and fight for humans online.
Tools for Humanity is designed to help identify real humans, provide them with an encrypted and reliable digital ID, and allow them to access spaces online that are safe from AI and bots.
As it continues encouraging people to verify their identify online, it will be interesting to see how quickly TFH catches on and whether these World IDs will remain as secure as Altman promises them to be.
