Crypto Community Thinks AI Has a Personhood Problem, CoinGecko Survey Finds

CoinGecko conducted a recent survey on AI user opinions, particularly centered around Proof of Personhood (PoP). The overwhelming majority of users want to distinguish humans from AI and are open to adopting PoP.

Proof of Personhood (PoP) is a mechanism designed to verify that a user is a unique human being—not a bot, not an AI, and not a duplicate identity. Many users feel it’s increasingly critical as generative AI and autonomous agents proliferate across digital platforms.

Is Personhood the Next Big Trend in AI?

AI projects have seen declining popularity over the past months, largely due to macroeconomic factors and other narratives dominating the Web3 space. Yet, AI agent development remains strong.

AI agents are now highly integrated into crypto Twitter and social media. They are driving conversations, changing narratives, and even creating dialog. So, the concept of personhood has become a critical discussion among the crypto community.

Most recently, CoinGecko conducted a survey on AI-related opinions and identifying personhood.

Survey on AI Opinions. Source: CoinGecko

CoinGecko’s data shows that most AI users firmly believe that it’s important to know if they’re interacting with a human. Nearly half of respondents think this task is “very important,” and 92% think it’s at least somewhat important.

This can help explain why Proof of Personhood (PoP), a concept pioneered by Sam Altman’s Worldcoin, has remained an enduring idea in the AI space.

What’s the problem, then? Although this survey shows that AI users want to identify personhood, that doesn’t mean that everyone is willing to adopt PoP methods as currently devised or understood.

Nearly half of users were willing or somewhat willing to try them, but it was a far smaller margin than the other question.

Survey on Proof of Personhood. Source: CoinGecko

Furthermore, the survey determined that only 30.3% of respondents believe that it’s very important to distinguish humans from AI and are also willing to adopt Proof of Personhood methods.

On the other hand, 18.3% thought identifying humans was important but were neutral or actively opposed to PoP.

The survey did not apparently describe specific PoP protocols from any one project. PoP generally involves using non-traditional forms of verification, such as biometric data, social media profiles, or other methods that are difficult to fake or replicate, but there isn’t a single industry standard yet.

Considering that another CoinGecko survey identified declining interest in AI investment, this polling discrepancy could present a problem. AI users are mostly unified as to what the issue is, but the proposed solutions are much more controversial.

A heavy-handed approach to the personhood question could turn users away from AI. This is far from ideal in the current market.

Still, it’s important not to overstate the level of controversy. Although less than half of AI users want to adopt Proof of Personhood, the pool of hostile respondents was comparatively small.

There’s a substantial number of ambivalent people, and they may respond well to new protocols, marketing campaigns, or other incentives.

Overall, it’s evident that PoP is becoming a key discussion point in the Web3 community. As autonomous agents gain influence, PoP might serve as a firewall between digital manipulation and genuine participation.