The Orb will see you now  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

May 31, 2025 THE COVER STORY This machine would like to know if you're human BY SAM JACOBS Editor in Chief, TIME While reading Billy Perrigo's story on Tools for Humanity, the Sam Altman-led company that aspires to verify every human on the planet through unique biometric codes, I couldn't help but think of the 1993 New Yorker cartoon captioned, "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog."  Altman and others have helped bring artificial intelligence to consumers and, with it, unleashed the potential for digital "agents" to perform work and tasks on our behalf. It's quite easy to imagine how powerful this latest technological innovation could be. Although, the flip side of this development, as Perrigo shows, is an online world where it may be impossible to tell whether you're interacting with work created by a person or an agent. This presents new challenges for the way we all live and work online. Perrigo's story on Tools for Humanity's so-called Orb comes at a time when  conversations around artificial intelligence are focused on the innovations in hardware that will continue to transform the technology's role in our lives. Just last week, Altman announced the acquisition of Jony Ive's company, bringing the Steve Jobs collaborator into OpenAI's fold to build…what exactly we are not yet sure. But the potential for AI-powered machines is seen already in the work of companies like Figure, led by TIME100 AI honoree Brett Adcock. Many others are also getting busy building the tools that will enable us to interact with new technology like the Orb. "If this really works, it's like a fundamental piece of infrastructure for the world," Altman says. Read the story and let me know what you think? Sam@time.com. READ THE STORY » What I've been reading this week Why 'Hundred-Year' Storms Are Happening More Often Than That Climate change is making uncommon events more common. Here's what a 1-in-100 year storm means. The Worst Way to Reply to a Party Invite A simple "I can't make it" would suffice. The Iranian Man Imprisoned For Supporting Women's Rights Reza Khandan describes life in prison and his fight against mandatory hijab laws alongside his wife, Nasrin Sotoudeh. Breaking Down the Shocking Season Finale of 'Your Friends and Neighbors' Coop (Jon Hamm) makes some unexpected decisions in the Season 1 finale of the popular Apple drama.   Want more from TIME? Sign up for our other newsletters.         Subscribe to TIME TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Connect with TIME via Facebook | Twitter | Newsletters PRIVACY POLICY | YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS Questions? Contact newsletters@time.com Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2025 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved. TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508 Boone, IA 50037-0508, United States of America Terms of Service