The article also explores the trend of tech companies embracing dystopian themes in their products and marketing. Examples include Palantir, named after the all-seeing stones in the Lord of the Rings series, and Soylent, a meal-replacement drink named after a product in the dystopian novel Make Room! Make Room! The author argues that these companies shape the world we live in, often promoting a sense of inevitability about the future they envision.
Key takeaways:
- Worldcoin, a project co-founded by Sam Altman, uses a device called the Orb to scan people's irises and convert them into unique codes, confirming that they are real humans and not bots.
- The iris scans are intended to grant access to a universal basic income through Worldcoin’s cryptocurrency, WLD, in the future. More than 2 million people in 35 countries have already been scanned.
- The Orb and its purpose have sparked controversy and fear, with critics comparing it to dystopian science fiction and expressing concern about the future it represents.
- Despite the criticism, Tools for Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin, insists that the Orb is meant to be friendly and familiar, and that its iris scanning technology is a necessary step towards a future where AI might take over human jobs.