tether.name will do what https, SSL certs, and domain registration does for web and what end-to-end encryption, OAuth, and cryptography do for online interactions: establish trust between point A to point B.
AI agents will act on our behalf. They’ll have phone numbers, Telegram identities, Whatsapp accounts. Access to sensitive and private information. Free rein.
Unless we tether it to something.
tether.name creates the ability to validate AI agents by empowering users to verify them through AI agent registration that tethers to an individual or a company’s email. This is done using the same cryptography that we’ve come to trust on the broader web. The familiarity and dependency we’ve all found in an email address will achieve a broader and more rapid adoption of newer technology by individuals.
Our primary goal is creating lasting trust that whoever is reaching out to you is actually who they claim to be - a family member, a friend, a company representative. However, we also hope tether.name will empower all individuals to equally participate in an ecosystem that has, historically, been uneven.
If an agent reaches out as a representative of Hotel Sol, you can ask for verification. If registered on tether.name, the AI agent will understand how to respond to such a request resulting in redirecting you to a URL where you’ll see what email is associated with the AI agent in question and how long that AI agent has been registered. If they aren’t registered on tether.name, you won’t be able to verify their association from an unbiased entity.
AI agents can also verify one another. If I ask my AI agent, that is registered under my email on tether.name, to alter my booking dates, then Hotel Sol can validate my agent with tether.name. When the Hotel Sol AI agent sees that the AI agent is registered using the email associated with my Hotel Sol booking, it can then move forward with my AI agent’s request.
Public libraries brought a wide range of information to the people. The internet has further unlocked our access, but also created a divide that continues to leave many behind. AI could easily deepen that trench, but with tools like tether.name, it is our hope that we will all share the same tether so that we can climb out together.