# ETHBerlin04 Keynote: Puja Ohlhaver, Mikhail Nikulin - The Silent Strings of Proof of Personhood

- Channel: [ETHBerlin](https://streameth.org/ethberlin)
- Date: 2024-09-04
- Duration: 27:02
- Topics: blockchain, AI, proof-of-personhood, economic distribution, identity verification
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/66d8d10d35d51347e0a3d75b

## Description

ETHBerlin04
May 24-26, 2024, CIC Innovation Campus
Keynote: Puja Ohlhaver, Mikhail Nikulin - The Silent Strings of Proof of Personhood

Experiments in PoP (where each person has a single, unique identity) have increasingly been touted as a mechanism for tracing information provenance, distributing UBI, and facilitating governance over systems of AI. This talk chronicles Idena's experiment in Proof of Personhood from launch in August 2019 to a crisis in May 2022.

ETHBerlin04 - https://ethberlin.org
A Department of Decentralization event - https://dod.ngo The video discusses the concept of "proof of personhood" and its implications for democratic governance, economic distribution, and the authenticity of information in the age of generative AI. The speaker shares their experience with a study conducted on Idena, a blockchain protocol that aims to verify unique human identities to enable democratic processes and potentially govern AI. They critique the protocol based on a research paper titled "Compressed to Zero, the Silent Strings of Personhood," highlighting both its ambitions and challenges.

Idena's founder explains that it was the first blockchain with a one-person-one-vote consensus algorithm designed to prevent bots and account trading through identity staking. The goal was to create a decentralized network operated by individuals, countering centralization issues seen in proof-of-stake systems.

However, as Idena grew, suspicious patterns emerged suggesting automation or human farms where individuals were paid to perform validation ceremonies without understanding or controlling their private keys. This raised concerns about the integrity of the proof of personhood concept and whether it can be compromised by such practices.