Web3 CMO Stories Fighting Bots: The human.tech Revolution | S5 E32
What happens when artificial intelligence makes it increasingly simple to create thousands of fake identities? In the world of Web3, this isn't a theoretical question. It's a pressing challenge that threatens to undermine the fair distribution of resources and community governance.
Yan Ketelers, CMO at Holonym (the foundation behind human.tech), joins us to discuss how the proliferation of bot activity and Sybil attacks is diluting value that should flow to actual humans. "A single entity can collect a thousand times the airdrop they should be entitled to get," Jan explains, highlighting how this pattern creates a system where honest participants find their rewards and voting power dramatically reduced.
The conversation explores human.tech's innovative approach to solving this contradiction through zero-knowledge protocols. Their ecosystem—consisting of Human Passport (formerly Gitcoin Passport), the upcoming Human Wallet, and the Human Network backend infrastructure enables users to prove their humanity without compromising privacy. This technology has already proven valuable for projects like Story Protocol in ensuring airdrops reach genuine community members.
Perhaps most exciting is human.tech's solution to one of crypto's persistent user experience problems: wallet recovery without seed phrases. By splitting keys across network nodes that can be reconstituted when needed, they eliminate a significant barrier to mainstream adoption. "We don't believe everyone should do self-custody and write down their seed phrase, then hide it somewhere in a field," Yan shares, outlining their vision for more accessible crypto ownership.
Beyond crypto applications, human.tech's partnership with RefUnite is helping refugees establish digital identities and receive aid without requiring traditional identity documents. This practical application ensures humanitarian assistance reaches intended recipients rather than being diverted through intermediaries or fraudulent accounts.
As AI continues to advance, the distinction between authentic and artificial identities grows increasingly blurred. Join us to discover how Human Tech is establishing a framework where individuals maintain control of their digital identities while still being able to prove their humanity when needed. Subscribe now and share your thoughts on the future of digital personhood!
This episode was recorded through a Descript call on July 24, 2025. Read the blog article and show notes here: https://webdrie.net/fighting-bots-the-human-tech-revolution/