Amid the rise of artificial intelligence and an increase in online bots, the reality of humankind can easily be skewed. A high-tech device in San Francisco's Union Square is offering one way to prove your humanness, as part of a global database.

World Network, a digital identity project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, opened its first U.S. flagship in San Francisco on Thursday. 

The store offers a futuristic way to verify a person's "humanness" using a biometric device called the Orb. It's a metallic sphere that scans the iris, face curvature, pulse, and temperature of users. The goal is to prove you're human and not a bot.

"I wanted to understand it better," said Clement, a Bay Area resident who tested the Orb out of curiosity. "At some point, it's going to be an issue online to know if we are real or if we're talking to a machine."

The store, located beside the Macy's building in Union Square, is home to a handful of the eyeball-looking devices. 

After downloading the World App and scanning a QR code, visitors interact with the Orb, which verifies that they are unique biological humans and issues them a World ID, which the group describes as an anonymous digital passport. 

More than 26 million people in over 160 countries have already signed up for World Network. But this is the first time the technology has landed on U.S. soil.

The initiative comes amid recent data that suggests by 2026, up to 90% of online interactions could involve AI in some form. The creators of the Orb see their technology as a way to give humans a fighting chance in the digital arms race.

"We want to make sure that all technology being built today is for the benefit of the people," said Adrian Ludwig, chief architect at Tools for Humanity, the company behind the Orb. "Unfortunately, it's hard to tell who people are online. The first thing you need to know is: Is this a person?"

Ludwig emphasized that the device is designed with privacy in mind. 

"The Orb gives that picture to the person, then immediately deletes it," he said. "It's analyzed it, confirmed they're human, and once it knows that, it can keep that proof around that at one point in the past did the analysis, it doesn't need to store it." 

Still, the concept raises questions for some users who question the safety of not just their data privacy, but also their physical privacy. 

"It's the unknown — it's the path we're going down," said Maggie Peña, a passerby. "If it helps in some way, I'd say yes to everything. But that unknown path is scary."

World Network's founders say the technology could be used across platforms — from dating apps to social media — offering reassurance that users are interacting with real people, not AI-generated personas or bots.

"There's real value to be a human at the end of the day," Clement said.

The system also has a cryptocurrency component. Each user is allotted 16 "World Coins" that, at this point, roughly hold the value of the U.S. dollar. The group says the purpose of the digital currency is for scalability and hopes to use it as a global currency both for in-app purchases and externally.