Our author has his iris scanned

Worldcoin polarizes the world. It is ChatGPT founder Sam Altman’s crypto start-up. And is pursuing an ambitious mission – with controversial means: the one-in-all app for an AI-dominated future. With it, you should be able to pay with cryptocurrencies free of charge and worldwide, prove your identity in a forgery-proof manner and even receive an unconditional basic income. This Thursday Worldcoin started in Germany. In the Alexa in Berlin, one of the largest shopping centers in the city, users are recruited. The catch: If you want to take part, you have to have your iris scanned by a machine, the “Orb”, on site.

thing, thing, thing, thing! Blade runner vibes, anyone? When I tell friends or colleagues that I’m scanning my iris for Worldcoin, they laugh – at best. At worst, they doubt my sanity.

“Are you stupid?”

“They will store and resell your most intimate biometric data. Just like all other tech companies.”

“In ten years they’ll come with robot dogs and have you killed.”

The prevailing mood on social media: Skynet comparisons and Terminator memes. Right?

The gateway to the soul as proof of the future

They are on the ground floor of Alexa between perfumeries and mobile phone shops: two orbs and a lonely young promoter. His motto: don’t speak to anyone, enlighten them if they are interested. No statements to the press. He gets an official representative of the company: Friederike, 31, a trained businesswoman and visibly enthusiastic. “I was super fascinated by the vision and after a few conversations I immediately caught fire,” she explains. Do you understand the skepticism online? “It’s a communication issue. We want to create a digital identity that protects privacy completely: You don’t need to provide an email address, home address or cell phone number. Not even your name.”

You only have to give up your eyes, the gateway to the soul. Is it even more intimate?

Worldcoin capitalizes on major blockchain trends

No question, the vision behind Worldcoin is promising. Also the technology. The app includes a self custodial wallet. This means that only the user has access to their digital assets. No bank, not the company. And the Orb deletes all data immediately on site, if you want. Nothing remains of the scan of the iris except a long cryptographic code, the iris hash. To do this, the company uses a new method, the zero-knowledge proof. Theoretically, you can log in anywhere in the future – without leaving your data everywhere. This is currently possible, for example, on the popular news service Discord.

Worldcoin thus solves two major problems of surveillance capitalism: people can be clearly distinguished from machines, which will become increasingly important in the age of AI. And you stop the exploitative business model of big data. “Because no two people have the same iris pattern, and because these patterns are very difficult to fake, the Orb can accurately tell people apart without having to gather any additional information about them,” the startup’s blog reads. The eyes as the definitive proof of humanity in an AI-dominated future. And the way to a fairer capitalism.

The project awakens the idealist in me

It starts. I download the Worldcoin app to my phone and stand in front of the orb with the QR code. Friederike accompanies me through the process and tells me directly that I can have my data deleted. Worldcoin would only store them to better train the AI. The option is clearly marked. I actually choose to have my data saved. Somehow the process inspires confidence in me. And the idealists, the hope for a better world.

Show the orb your face and the app will prompt me.

“Hello, Orb,” I say. He does not answer.

Next step: Wait for him to verify your humanity.

The orb will beep and glow. A white ring forms around the black circle.

“What’s he doing?” I ask Friederike, a little nervous.

“He just says he’s at work right now.”

It hardly takes a minute for the process to be complete: I have my World ID in the app. It just says: Anonymous. And I can claim my first Worldcoin. There is one every week, explains Friederike. They’re not worth anything yet. The system is in beta. Worldcoin is built on Optimism, a Layer 2 solution for Ethereum. The Ethereum Name Service is integrated into the app. That means it is open to Ethereum dApps. The code should remain open source. And the cryptocurrency serves an ambitious purpose.

Experts estimate that 80 percent of jobs could be lost due to artificial intelligence in the next few years, while productivity in the economy is booming thanks to AI. The foundation behind Worldcoin speaks of an “era of abundance”. Your concern: distribute this back to the people, via their system. What states have been discussing for years, ChatGPT founder Sam Altman wants to introduce with his own cryptocurrency: an unconditional basic income.

It’s all a question of trust

In the end, the success of the ambitious project depends on a critical question: Can you really trust Worldcoin and its promises? A report from MIT raises doubts. According to him, Worldcoin recruited the first 500,000 of its now nearly two million users in emerging markets. Company officials lured and deceived poor people with promises of wealth to get their biometric data. They are said to have collected “more personal data” than they admitted. They also “failed to obtain meaningful consent” from their test users. According to MIT, Worldcoin may even have violated applicable privacy laws. Definitely Skynet vibes.

“I can’t comment on that today,” explains the spokeswoman on site. However, the company has promised us an interview with Alex Blania, the co-founder of Worldcoin and CEO, a German developer. If you want to get a picture of Worldcoin yourself, you can display the locations of the orbs on the app if you wish.