What exactly am I looking at?

A worldcoin gizmo which is basically a digital camera and I think has some face scanner stuff like an iphone. Once they've scanned and checked you are someone who hasn't been done already they give you basically a crypto wallet with some 'worldcoin' shitcoin in. And there's an app.

You only get a scan at the start, after that it's basically a usual crypto wallet + private key. They don't ask for your name or id or anything at the start. Although they are now offering me like $25 if I'll scan my passport and do kyc stuff. I think they are trying to make it into a payment/investment network.

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Nursie a day ago | parent | prev [-]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(blockchain)

A Sam Altman project which seemingly popped up out of nowhere, and offered people free money in exchange for biometric registration on the network, in a lot of countries all over the world. It seemed to be an attempt to set up some sort of global electronic ID system and currency all in one.

That silver sphere is an iris scanner, IIRC.

Got shut down pretty hard in a bunch of places as a potentially illegal invasion of privacy.

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CaptainZapp a day ago | parent | next [-]

>A Sam Altman project which seemingly popped up out of nowhere, and offered people free money

Was it free money? I recall that it was some shitcoin token paid out, which may or may not be worth something.

I could be wrong, of course.

	▲	ben_w a day ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Depending on degree of cynicism, both takes are compatible with what was observable: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(blockchain) For what it's worth, my cynicism for Worldcoin and that eye scanner thing is currently about 7/10: moderately high but could be much worse. By comparison, I'm 9/10 in cynicism for Facebook and 10/10 in cynicism for everything Musk does except SpaceX, my SpaceX cynicism is only 5/10.
	▲	tim333 a day ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		It was crypto coins that you could trade for money. I did it and have got about $300 worth.
	▲	Nursie a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		It was 'worldcoin'. And yes I used the term 'money' very loosely there. Apparently the token was only offered in some countries, and in some places where it was offered, that was considered enough of a bribe to render void the informed consent to collect and process private data.

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Vespasian a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Ah got it. I've heard about that but apparently were behind how Iris scanners look these days.

	▲	benterix a day ago \| parent [-]
		> but apparently were behind how Iris scanners look these days Not necessarily - they look whatever you want them to look. In this case sama wanted to create a feeling of futurism - the story being he is leading a global AGI revolution and you can be a part of it by staring in a metal ball.

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kotaKat a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Just another step closer to the creepy desires of building an AI "replica" human. Gotta get the look right (with Sora), the fingerprints and iris (with Worldcoin), the personality (ChatGPT erotic mode)...