How Will We Prove We’re Human When Bots Become the Internet’s Main Characters?
How Will We Prove Our Humanity in an AI Future?
After two weeks of beach weddings, NYC chaos, and speaking at Minnesota’s biggest “unconference,” Minnebar—this video yanked me straight out of my AI-news honeymoon and back into the bizarre, biometric present:
If bots are now the dominant users of the internet, and AI is increasingly indistinguishable from real people, what does it mean to be human online?
Welcome to Sam Altman’s “World”
Sam Altman (yes, OpenAI’s Altman) recently resurfaced with news about World—his other startup, formerly known as Worldcoin.
Their pitch?
Since bots now make up over half of all internet traffic, we need a new way to prove who’s actually human. And sadly, clicking “I’m not a robot” or squinting at blurry traffic lights isn’t going to cut it.
The solution?
Stare into a metal Orb. It scans your irises, generates a biometric code, and gives you a unique “World ID.” In exchange, you get Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency you can spend, send, or trade.
What does World get out of it? That’s still murky—and so is the business model. But clearly, they’re preparing for a future where digital identity and money are deeply entwined.
As Kevin Roose wrote in The New York Times, the founders envision a future where something like Worldcoin could help distribute AI-generated wealth—perhaps as a form of universal basic income—via a global “proof of humanity” network.
But the quote that really stuck with me was Altman’s:
“We wanted a way to make sure that humans stay special and central in a world where the internet was going to have lots of A.I.-driven content.”
The Internet Versus The Bots
World started as a crypto verification startup designed to help make it easier to verify that payments were made by humans, and has actually been around for the last two years.
How big is the problem?
Massive. And accelerating.
As of 2024, bot traffic officially surpassed human traffic online. And on some sites, AI makes up more than 80% of site visits.
Now on the surface that may not seem like a bad thing, but one of the biggest problems coming out of this is a sharp increase in scammers.
One jaw-dropping example: AI bots posing as students scammed over $10 million in federal aid—just in California—between 2023 and 2024. Nationwide? Over $100 million in fraud last year alone.
World has raised between $194M–$315M from top-tier firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures—but most Americans still haven’t heard of it. Why?
It launched overseas to dodge U.S. privacy laws.
That said, with this new political administration comes weaker regulation and a window to launch in the US.
Globally, adoption is mixed. Interest is strongest in crypto-forward regions like Argentina, Chile, India, and parts of Africa and Southeast Asia.
Countries like Spain, Portugal, Hong Kong, and Kenya have banned the Orb—but usage appears to continue in most of those countries anyway.
An Internet for AI
Let’s be real: the internet as we know it is already changing—and fast.
If bots are now the main characters, what happens to the rest of us?
Will the internet split into two lanes—one for bots, one for humans?
Will we redesign websites for AI to crawl, not people to read?
Can humans and bots coexist online, or are we heading for a breaking point?
Many people already can’t. I’ve seen many older relatives confidently repost AI-generated images thinking they were real.
And with bots already helping influence elections (or becoming Blake Lively’s biggest haters) it’s hard enough for the average human to realize they’re talking to language models.
And as more social platforms grow more passive, social media is feeling less social and more like cable.
We scroll, we consume—but we post less and engage less. Most reach now goes to the biggest creators, while everyday users fade into the feed.
Younger users are drifting to private, bot-free corners of the web: Discord threads, group chats, niche forums.
But how possible is it to keep the bots out?
Need Friends? Find AI Facebook Friends
And just to make things weirder: Zuckerberg appeared on Dwarkesh Patel’s podcast this week and to discuss the idea of creating personalized AI friends to help supplement real human connections and address loneliness. 🙃
He explained: “The average American has, I think, fewer than three friends. And the average person has demand for meaningfully more. I think it’s like 15 friends or something, right?”
Which raises a few questions:
Do we really want AI friends to fill the social gaps?
Are we okay with chatbots designed to agree with everything we say?
Is this just going to deepen the echo chambers we’re already stuck in?
We’re not just asking “What’s real?” online anymore.
We’re asking: Who’s real?
The future of the internet isn’t about information—it’s about identity. And in a world of bots, orbs, and algorithmic loneliness, staying human might be the most radical act of all.
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Quick Bytes:
Could Eye-Scanning Crypto Orbs Save Us From a Bot Apocalypse? - NYTimes
The AI Race Has Gotten Crowded—and China Is Closing In on the US - Wired
Meta launches a stand-alone AI app to compete with ChatGPT - TechCrunch
Upload and edit your images directly in the Gemini app - Google
Duolingo launches 148 courses created with AI after sharing plans to replace contractors with AI AND Is Duolingo the face of an AI jobs crisis? - TechCrunch
Google Plans to Roll Out Its A.I. Chatbot to Children Under 13 - NYTimes
OpenAI undoes its glaze-heavy ChatGPT update - The Verge
Microsoft CEO says up to 30% of the company’s code was written by AI - TechCrunch
And because Zuckerberg needs multiple controversial quotes in a week… Mark Zuckerberg just declared war on the entire advertising industry - The Verge
Want to see how creatives are adapting (or not) to this AI world? I found this blog post by an embroidery enthusiast sent by friend of the newsletter Elise to be particularly insightful. It’s not enthusiastic, but it does articulate the struggles artists are having right now as AI continues to scale.
In case you missed it:
If this week’s newsletter left you wondering whether we’re all about to be scanned, tracked, or outnumbered by bots—then you’ll love this week’s Swift Start Go podcast episode.
I sat down with my friend, Communiful founder, and futurist (???) Brian Pitts to talk about the rise of Cyber Sapiens (and just how wild an AI future could be!). 🤖
What started as a fun PowerPoint party fireside chat turned into one of the most mind-expanding conversations I’ve ever had about evolution, identity, and the tech we're merging with faster than we realize.
Give it a listen. Your inner eukaryote will thank you.
Also, huge thanks to my husband Dave Niccolai who helped me finish this episode two weeks late after my schedule exploded. Whoops! 🤣
Also, check out the present I got him below!
You may have also seen that I had a speaking gig at Minnesota’s largest “unconference” Minnebar. It was their biggest year ever with over 2k sign ups, and I miraculously got one of the top slots in Best Buy headquarter’s theater, the largest venue. Huge thanks to everyone who came! Video coming soon!
Top Videos of the Week:
Stanford Creativity Expert: This Simple Shift will 10x Your AI CreativityㅣJeremy Utley
AI News: 22 Advancements That Happened This Week! - Matt Wolfe
How Nice is Too Nice for an AI ChatBot? - NYTimes
Claude can now connect to your world - Anthropic
What Are People Actually Using AI For? - AI Daily Brief
Bonus Content:
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Really thought-provoking idea by Altman. It’s wild how much the internet has shifted from being something you opt into, to something you have to actively opt out of, which, these days, is nearly impossible. The idea that privacy could become a luxury or that opting out might penalize people who prioritize privacy worries me. I can’t help but think about the potential for discrimination or exclusion for those who don’t want to live in a fully tracked, hyper-verified world.