It has even been reported that Sam Altman, through his Worldcoin project, has brought artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and social policy into a new frontier that is already creating significant ripples within the tech and finance sectors. The audacious plan is to create a system of UBI via crypto currency which seems to have the potential of rewriting the rules of economic development and the concept of financial equality in the world.
Worldcoin, which is being developed by Sam Altman the same person behind OpenAI is another project that is attracting the attention of venture capitalists and tech lovers. The concept of the project is to develop a new cryptocurrency that could be issued to each person in the world and, in fact, become the UBI system.
The first aspect of Worldcoin can be defined by the peculiarities of its method of identifying people. The project involves the participants in having their identities taken through the use of iris scanning technology. This innovative approach aims to solve one of the most persistent challenges in both the cryptocurrency space and the implementation of UBI: this way, the recipient list will not contain multiple entries of the same person, or fake accounts.
This is the case with Worldcoin whose possible consequences are numerous. Should the venture succeed, it could pave way for a fairer world economy, that is, funding for people without consideration for their geographical location or economic status. This is in line with the recent debates on UBI as a possible solution to the issues of economic disparity and the problems brought about by the enhancement of artificial intelligence in the labor force.
However, the project is not without controversies and challenges as would be discussed in the following sections. Some of the issues that have been noted as to privacy include the storing of biometric information. The critics of the iris-scanning approach pointed out that the process was intrusive and may be abused. The team behind Worldcoin, however, insists that the project respects users’ privacy and does not store the biometric data but uses it to create a digital signature.
It has also created discourses on the possibilities and effects of a worldwide UBI that is based on cryptocurrencies. There are still some questions as to how such a system would interface with existing national economies and financial systems; and how it would impact on global monetary policy.
Nevertheless, the Worldcoin has received a lot of attention from the investors. The project has received support from leading venture capital firms, which means that there is confidence in the ability to challenge conventional economic systems.
It is rather timely that Worldcoin is being developed at the present where debates on the future of work, AI-induced employment, and the distribution of wealth are being discussed worldwide. That Altman is involved given his experience with AI with OpenAI gives the project a new dimension, which could merge AI with cryptocurrency in new ways.
When Worldcoin will expand, it will be important to observe how the project will manage the issues of the legal restrictions in various countries. The success of the project will therefore depend on the level of acceptance that is accorded to it by governments and financial institutions and most importantly by individuals across the globe.
As such, the crypto community is keenly observing Worldcoin, as this is one of the few truly ambitious projects to use blockchain and cryptocurrency for solving global social challenges. It is still uncertain whether Worldcoin will be able to achieve all the stated goals, but the fact of its creation contributes to the definition of modern possibilities in the field of combining technology, finance, and social policy.
