WAKE UP! It’s time to have a serious debate about giving your identity to AI.
Artificial Intelligence is the single greatest tool ever created to learn, build, and express yourself. It is a TERRIBLE idea to require people to hand over their legal identity to access these tools.
What I believe:
The federal government is well within its rights to restrict who can access models they perceive to be a threat to national security.
AND, people have a fundamental right to access tools of expression without revealing their legal identity. I co-wrote the Internet Users Bill of Rights in 2007 with @Scobleizer @arrington and others, working for @rozzie I partnered with @boztank and @btaylor when @Meta launched Granular Data Permissions in 2010, I’ve testified before Congress to advance privacy legislation, serve on the board of @TechNetUpdate to champion the same, have brought leaders like @csuwildcat into @proof to lead the cause, and have fought for this right my entire career.
But Pat, you run an identity company? Yes. And the choice between securing transactions & systems with identity vs. losing our privacy is a false one. The technology exists today to have our cake and eat it too.
The topic is urgent. The @WhiteHouse's moves to restrict @AnthropicAI's Fable model to US Nationals is supposedly leading them to collect every person’s identity. @TechCrunch tells us this is imminent. I hope this is wrong.
In needing to demonstrate their systems are safe, Anthropic is in the unenviable position of needing to disprove a negative. It’s understandable why @DarioAmodei might go down this path, but it is the wrong one.
@chamath and others are calling for KYC in front of AI. Perhaps the right security practice, but a terrible development for society at large if not done properly.
The solution is Zero Knowledge Proofs. Confirm someone is a US National, over 18+, whatever… without collecting any personal information.
These technologies exist, are ready, and in use. OpenID for Verifiable Credentials, Selective Disclosures, BBS Signatures, trusted issuance.
To my colleagues, if you still believe in what we all fought for, I strongly encourage you to engage here. We do not want our identity tied to every idea we have, everything we seek to learn, and everything we create.
Reach out. Let’s do this.
