3 Questions: How to prove humanity online
Brief
As artificial intelligence agents become more advanced, it could become increasingly difficult to distinguish between AI-powered users and real humans on the internet.
In a new white paper , researchers from MIT, OpenAI, Microsoft, and other tech companies and academic institutions propose the use of personhood credentials, a verification technique that enables someone to prove they are a real human online, while preserving their privacy.
MIT News spoke with two co-authors of the paper, Nouran Soliman, an electrical engineering and computer science graduate student, and Tobin South, a graduate student in the Media Lab, about the need for such credentials, the risks associated with them, and how they could be implemented in a safe and equitable way.
Q: Why do we need personhood credentials?
Tobin South: AI capabilities are rapidly improving.