Of Humans, By Humans, For Humans

1. Background

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, stated this year that if the pace of AI development continues as it is, the emergence of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), an AI capable of general application to all situations, could occur within the next year. Prominent intellectuals around the world predict that the advent of AGI will lead to a significant reduction in human intellectual labor, leveraging higher-order thinking that humans have not considered, resulting in synergistic effects across various fields.

However, there is another perspective on this matter. Our daily lives are increasingly becoming intertwined with the digital world, which is continuously evolving. Human activities in the digital world inevitably take on characteristics that are more compatible with machines (specifically computers) compared to the offline environment. As a result, the recent explosive advancement in AI has accelerated the arrival of AGI, raising concerns that human identity in the digital world could be threatened, and the value of human actions and the outcomes of those actions could be undermined.

2. Takeaway

As we face a future where some lament that there is no longer a place for humans, how should we seek and protect our value as humans in the age of artificial intelligence?

One of the defining features of sports, such as the World Cup and the Olympics, which test human limits, is that participants must be human. Even humans who use doping are disqualified for not competing fairly. If anything were allowed to participate in sports and the focus was solely on winning, cars would win in athletics and jet boats in swimming. Could we be enthusiastic about such sports? Would we be willing to spend money on them? I believe not. The conclusion here is that we perceive value in competitions where only humans participate, and we are willing to spend money on them.

Source: The example of sports can also be applied to the digital world. Recently, YouTube has been flooded with videos using AI to make it seem like a different singer is covering a song. While everyone enjoys these videos for fun, no one really considers them valuable, and it is doubtful that anyone would pay for them if they were not free. Readers can now understand what we deem valuable as humans.

The next question is how to protect this value. The method is simpler than one might think. To determine if something is valuable, just verify if it is human or the result of human actions. Value is inherently assigned, and this phenomenon will be amplified in a future where AI penetrates everyday life more deeply.

To determine whether someone is human, methodologies or devices are necessary, and there is a project in Web3 dedicated to refining this infrastructure. This project is known as Humanity Protocol. Humanity Protocol provides an excellent infrastructure for "human identification," aiming to find and protect human values. Specifically, it employs a mechanism called Proof of Humanity(PoH), which is specialized in finding and protecting human values. This mechanism includes unique palm recognition, certificates proving humanity, and an incentive model to encourage participation from various roles. Based on this mechanism, Humanity Protocol protects user privacy, utilizes digital identity verification, and builds an environment that preserves human values in the digital space.

For more detailed information on this topic, you can refer to an upcoming article on Humanity Protocol, soon to be published by Four Pillars.