Safe Spaces Need Verification: Why We're Attending AI Festivus 2025
The Problem We're Gathering to Solve
This week, we're joining hundreds of AI practitioners, technologists, and community leaders at AI Festivus 2025—a two-day virtual event celebrating human-centered AI. And true to the Festivus tradition, we're bringing some grievances to air.
Grievance #1: Online communities can't protect safe spaces.
In 2024 alone, catfishing cost people $697 million. Twenty-three percent of social media users report being victimized. And it's getting worse—AI-generated deepfakes are making every photo, every video, every voice call suspect. The technology to fake identity is advancing faster than our ability to detect it.
But the statistics only tell part of the story.
When Safety Costs Privacy
The problem hits women's communities especially hard. Online groups for women face constant harassment from bad actors who raid their spaces with lewd comments, degrading behavior, and coordinated attacks. It's exhausting. It's demoralizing. And current solutions force an impossible choice:
Sacrifice privacy for safety, or risk your community being overrun.
Communities like She Leads AI need ways to verify that members belong without compromising anyone's personal information. Right now, the tools available force difficult security decisions that some members may not be comfortable with. Share your face. Share your real name. Give up your anonymity.
There has to be a better way.
The Detection Dead End
"Just use AI detection tools," people say.
Here's the problem with that advice: detection is a losing game.
AI detection tools fail on sophisticated deepfakes. They can't verify video calls in real-time. And every time detection improves, the fakes get better. You're stuck in an endless arms race, always one step behind, always reacting instead of preventing.
The fundamental flaw is in the question itself. Instead of asking "Is this fake?" we should be asking "Can you prove you're real?"
Verification, Not Detection
What if you could prove you're female without revealing your face, name, or any other identifying information?
What if communities could verify who belongs without compromising anyone's privacy?
Privacy AND safety. Together. Not a trade-off.
That's cryptographic verification. And it's what we're building at not.bot.
Why Mathematical Proof Beats AI Guessing
At its core, cryptographic verification provides mathematical certainty, not probabilistic guesses. When you create a digital signature with not.bot, you're generating cryptographic proof of your identity attributes—proof that can be verified without revealing your personal information.
Think of it as a digital autograph that only you can create, but anyone can verify. No AI detection algorithms. No reverse image searches. No guessing games. Just mathematical proof that works every single time.
The technology exists. The standards exist. What's been missing is the application layer—making cryptographic verification accessible, understandable, and practical for everyday online interactions.
Human-Centered AI Requires Human Verification
AI Festivus champions human-centered AI—artificial intelligence that serves humanity rather than replacing or deceiving it. It's a mission we deeply believe in.
But here's the thing: human-centered AI requires human verification.
If we can't prove who's human and who's AI, how can we build AI systems that truly serve people? If anyone can impersonate anyone, how do we create online spaces where authentic human connection can flourish?
The answer isn't more sophisticated detection. It's giving people the tools to prove their authenticity when it matters.
Join the Conversation
This week at AI Festivus, we're joining conversations about digital identity, online safety, and the future of human-centered AI. We'll be discussing how cryptographic verification can protect safe spaces, enable authentic connections, and shift the paradigm from defensive detection to proactive proof.
The event is free and virtual, running December 26-27 with 34 speakers across 24 hours of workshops. Whether you're building AI tools, managing online communities, or simply concerned about digital trust, there's space for your voice.
The most powerful question we can ask isn't "Is this fake?"
It's "Can you prove you're real?"
And we finally have the technology to answer it.
About AI Festivus 2025
Dates: December 26-27, 2025 Format: Virtual (FREE) Organizers: She Leads AI + AI Salon Theme: Human-centered AI - mindset, use cases, discoveries, artistry, collaboration, and "airing of grievances" Register: aifestivus.com
About not.bot
not.bot provides cryptographic digital signatures that prove human authenticity without AI detection. Our mobile app lets you create verifiable "digital autographs"—QR and JAB codes that serve as mathematical proof you're a real person. Learn more at not.bot.