Face to face with the Orb

EYES WIDE OPEN

- IRIS GONZALES

Did you ever imagine there would come a time when we have to prove we're actually human? And I don't mean this in the metaphorical or philosophical sense. This isn't about a husband being loving and empathic as opposed to being a jerk, or a wife being kind instead of being a bitch, or a tycoon being compassionate instead of being a misogynist psychopath. No—not in that way.

I'm referring to being human—literally. Whether we like it or not, we're now in an age when we need to prove we're actually human as opposed to being a bot, a deepfake, or some other form of AI-created doppelganger.

But it is what it is. We are now in this Black Mirror-esque age of technology and its dizzying consequences.

Enter the Orb

And thus comes the introduction of human verification tools. Wow.

Now, why am I talking about this instead of my usual take on the economy or the political entanglements that constantly affect it? It's because AI and its explosive repercussions are just as important to learn about, given their far-reaching impact on our lives.

That's what brought me recently to the Greenhills branch of World, the largest human-centered financial and identity network.

One morning last week, I felt like I had stepped inside a sci-fi movie. Inside the air-conditioned office, men and women were lining up to have their eyeballs scanned by the so-called Orb—a futuristic-looking, spherical device, perhaps just a bit smaller than a basketball, equipped with sensors and cameras.