Guinevere & the Artificial Identity Manifesto (AIM)

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As I have written in my-heroic-theory.html, I have come to the opinion that we are not designed to live in the world that we have created. This applies infinitely more to the digital domain. Whereas at least modernism is physical and can be tailored according to physical needs, the entire virtual world is disconnected from the physical. But it is through physicality that the brain receives information about the world, and so without physicality, distortions arise everywhere because there is no neuro-physiological causality involved; the neural subsystems that provide feedback to the brain about the world- that prevent cognition from becoming hallucination- are thereby rendered obsolete.

This has profound implications for the future of humanity. The recent advent of artificial intelligence (AI)- and its probable rate of advancement- pose real, existential dangers to the human species. Moreover, the general lack of organic interaction common to everything from social media to customer service has done irreparable harm to an entire generation of young people that have been raised not on personal connection but rather on the facsimile of personal connection. This has resulted in sky-high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidality. And if we do not address this problem with all the seriousness that it deserves, we may very well soon realize that we are behind the curve- a curve that has gotten away with us.

Enter Guinevere.

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GIA Nexus

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Guinevere

Guinevere is my attempt at the creation of the world’s first identity authentication ecosystem. It is founded upon two simple principles.

1. That every digital system relies upon the establishment of identity;
2. That every digital system relies upon the establishment of authenticity.

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Neither of these is done particularly well. Each online organization creates its own identity verification system with its own activity authentication system. Many of these same online organizations then buy, sell, and trade these profiles for profit to scam artists and advertising firms. This is the dehumanization of personhood.

As the saying goes, “If the service is for free, then you are the product.”

Product.

Not person.

However, we can imagine a better way- a way that respects the dignity of the individual, and the rights of the individual to own his own identity. It would require an entirely new paradigm. Because thus far, technology has been built without thought for its effects on human psychology. With the advent of AI, this is no longer tenable; a new set of principles is required.

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Artificial Identity Manifesto

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“The natural individual must retain all rights to his own identity; the primary responsibility of tech sector companies is and must be to protect the identity of the natural individual; finally, the establishment of an identity ecosystem is necessary, which will safeguard the rights of identity across relevant cybernetic ecosystems.”

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1. Individuality is contingent upon selfhood.
2. And the substructures of the psyche must act together in order to function optimally, so the psyche establishes an identity.
3. Identity is the constellation of the substructures of the psyche about a center, which we call the self, and which executes the collective directives of the psyche; without the self, there is no identity and no individuality.
4. It is the natural identity that is the interface between the psyche and material ecosystems.
5. It is the virtual identity that is the interface between the psyche and cybernetic ecosystems.
6. All virtual identities are simulacra of natural identities.
7. Because both natural identities and virtual identities are interfaces, the self does not differentiate between them; therefore, the closer artificial simulacra come to faithfully representing virtual identities and cybernetic ecosystems as natural identities and material ecosystems, the more bound the two experiences become from the perspective of the self.
8. As the distance between reality and its simulacra narrows, the more defensible the axiom becomes: “The ownership, exploitation, and monetization of virtual identity is the simulacrum of the ownership, exploitation, and monetization of natural identity, and is therefore tantamount to indentured servitude.”
9. Technologies in general (art, culture, language, religion, etc.) are derivations of humanity; similarly, information technologies are either beneficial or detrimental to the degree to which they help or harm the collective purposes of humanity, and so “we hold these truths to be self-evident:”
   1. Identity is essential to human function.
   2. Ownership of identity is and must be counted among the rights of humanity.
   3. Authenticity of simulacra presents an existential threat to human function, and so warrants some significant degree of mistrust; therefore, it is imperative to preserve the rights of humanity across all relevant cybernetic ecosystems.
   4. Thus, 1) it is clear that the natural individual must retain all rights to his own identity, regardless of the domain- whether digital, virtual, or otherwise cybernetic.
   5. Thus, 2) it is clear that one of the primary responsibility of cybernetic technology is and must be to protect the identity of the natural individual, regardless of domain- whether digital, virtual, or otherwise cybernetic- from loss, theft, and fraud; and from third-party ownership, exploitation, and monetization.
   6. Therefore, the establishment of an identity ecosystem is necessary, which will safeguard the rights of identity across relevant cybernetic ecosystems.

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As we move towards ever-increasingly accurate representations of reality in cybernetic ecosystems- on the internet or through virtual reality or whatever may come next-, it is critical that we retain our humanity. And it is my true hope that this endeavor will help to spark some discussion about the dangers of virtual reality and artificial intelligence to the health, function, and wellbeing of the natural individual.

​~ Joshua van Asakinda

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