Recently, a picture of a person's online verification has been circulating on the internet. What's terrifying is that this picture is completely generated by AI and is reported to be created using Stable Diffusion. This picture shows what everyone has been worried about: AI identity theft.

The picture shows an image of a person holding a sign, which can be easily used for online identity verification. Many banks and brokerage firms allow KYC verification using photos or videos. However, this also increases the possibility of manipulating this process through AI tools.

Last year, a large number of AI image generation tools emerged, and most of them are still not bound by copyright laws, which only makes the process out of control. The recent Midjourney V6 tool version allows people to generate any celebrity or brand image without any restrictions. In addition, with the rise of deepfakes, video as a form of identification is also threatened.

Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath recently talked about the threat of online identity fraud by sharing his own deepfake video. Kamath explained the typical verification process, where identity and address proof are obtained through Digilocker or Aadhaar. This is followed by identity checks through a webcam, and he believes that identity security is already under threat in today's age.

The emergence of a perfect solution

Although measures such as two-factor authentication, standardized passwords, verification and reporting of duplicate accounts, and password updates can be adopted, they are not preventive measures. Currently, a perfect online identification method may seem out of reach, but Worldcoin could be potentially effective.

World ID, a digital passport, can verify unique human identities online while prioritizing privacy. With the latest updates, several companies including Reddit, Shopify, and Discord have integrated World ID 2.0 into their platforms, allowing users to verify their accounts using it.

Integration of Worldcoin on platforms in various industries such as retail, gaming, and e-commerce can provide users with a secure experience. Worldcoin can address fraud issues caused by duplicate accounts, multiple discount claims, automated bot integration, and malicious actors. Identity verification allows protection against the potential ways hackers can gain access to multiple accounts.

In addition, even the use of CAPTCHA for online verification can be replaced by Worldcoin.

Massive integration

The idea sounds perfect, but the problem lies in implementation. For these measures to work effectively, Worldcoin or similar products need to be widely integrated. However, due to security concerns, people still remain skeptical of Worldcoin.

Since the initial launch of Worldcoin Orbs, controversy surrounding the captured biometric data has been a concern. Although the company later came forward to explain the secure use of personal data, stating that they do not store anyone's data, the adoption rate of Worldcoin remains slow. Currently, Worldcoin has over 2 million users spread across 120 countries.

AI identity theft is gradually becoming a significant problem. Unless applications such as Worldcoin and digital identity verification methods are adopted, the number of AI fraud cases will continue to rise.