The Metaverse and the Future of AI

A conversation with Alex Tapscott

Alex Tapscott, a renowned expert on blockchain and cryptocurrency, joined Samir Morani to discuss the role of artificial intelligence (AI) within the metaverse and its future economic growth during a session called "Pioneers of the Metaverse" on February 2024, 2. Tapscott is known for providing insights into the impact of emerging technologies on business, government, and society at large, and his latest book, Web3: Charting the Internet's Next Economic and Cultural Frontier, was published by Harper Collins in September 2023.

In this session, Tapscott spoke about how AI and the metaverse will play a key role as culture, social interactions, and economic activity move online in unprecedented ways, with a particular focus on synthetic reality and immersive metaverse experiences, shedding light on the transformative potential these technologies offer.

A hyper-realistic metaverse experience

Using the Everdome initiative as an example, Tapscott highlighted the importance of projects that combine hyper-realistic production values ​​with accessibility to deliver a true metaverse experience to a broad audience -- a prime example of a project that aims to build a bridge between the current internet ecosystem (web2) and the next generation of digital interactions and economies (web3).

The Role of AI in the Metaverse

According to Tapscott, AI will play a central role in enhancing user experiences and shaping economic opportunities within the digital landscape by providing more engaging and realistic interactions within the metaverse. He also noted the potential for integrated, immersive experiences that the metaverse can provide by interconnecting digital and physical realities.

Economic Growth and Cultural Frontiers

In Tapscott's view, the metaverse and AI have the potential to open up new frontiers of economic growth and spur cultural innovation. He focuses on how individuals and businesses can access and harness this new technology to seamlessly connect the digital and physical worlds.

This dialogue is crucial to understanding how the integration of the metaverse and AI will have a profound impact on our society, our economy, and the way we interact with technology.

The paper offers insights and guidance on navigating the new digital frontier.

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Full translation version here

The rise of AI, the metaverse and blockchain technologies are reshaping the future of technology and online experiences, offering the potential for greater control over identity, data and assets, while revolutionizing the traditional art market.

The metaverse is a new shared online reality that encompasses culture, social interaction, commerce and economic activity in an immersive environment, and it requires an industry standards organization to avoid fragmentation and disorganization.

• Governance of the metaverse should be organized at a grassroots level by industry standards bodies to avoid fragmentation and chaos.
• Blockchain, AI, augmented reality and connected devices are all emerging technologies that are collectively creating a new era of the web, known as Web 3, that will impact every industry, institution, society and culture.
• The metaverse is a new online shared reality that encompasses culture, social interaction, commerce and economic activity in an immersive environment; there is only one metaverse.
• While the integration of software and AI is progressing rapidly, hardware remains a challenge before the metaverse can be fully experienced.
• The metaverse requires an open, persistent world where millions of people interact, but current processing power and hardware interfaces do not yet allow for this vision to be fully realized.
• Mainstream adoption of virtual and augmented reality will require easier-to-use, less obtrusive hardware, similar to the evolution of mobile phones.

The creation of a metaverse with blockchain-enabled privacy and digital property rights is essential to not perpetuate the dominance and data ownership of Big Tech companies.

• Investments in the metaverse by large companies like Facebook and Apple are creating a controlled, closed environment where users have no privacy and data and transactions belong to the companies, perpetuating the same model used by big tech companies.
• Data is the most important asset of the digital age, but it currently belongs to platforms, so to create a metaverse that represents the richness of our online lives, we need to get a few things right.
• Online virtual worlds require rights to privacy and digital property rights that currently do not exist in closed-loop environments.
• Blockchain technology enables the transfer of real-world assets and financial freedom in the virtual world, something not currently possible on platforms like Facebook's Metaverse.
• Blockchain allows individuals to move and store assets online without traditional intermediaries, creating scarcity and enabling peer-to-peer value transfer in the metaverse.
• Blockchain technology is the only way to truly own and transfer assets without the permission of a central authority.

The metaverse relies on blockchain technology, decentralized governance and an open, interoperable virtual environment to empower individuals and create new shared realities.

• We need more computing resources, better user interfaces, and technology that empowers individuals to realize the vision of the metaverse.
• Blockchain forms the foundation of the metaverse, and because the metaverse cannot exist without blockchain technology, governance and the rule of law are essential to its development.
• The metaverse is not just a virtual Disneyland or video games; it is a fusion of augmented reality experiences and property rights that create a new shared reality.
• The future of Web3 and the metaverse is a decentralized version where corporations have less control and users have more control over their identities, data and assets.
• Governance standards are crucial to the development of the Web3 metaverse, and the MA3 Consortium is working to establish common standards for its operation.
• Virtual environments need to be open and interoperable, enabling the movement of assets and identities across different platforms, but creating common standards for digital assets and identities is a major challenge.

Governance in the virtual world should be organized at a grassroots level to avoid fragmentation, while AI will play an active role in the metaverse.

• Governance in the virtual world should be organized at the grassroots level by industry standards bodies to avoid fragmentation and chaos.
• The rule of law, as found in a free capitalist society, is essential to protect property rights and ensure that no one is above the law.
• Creating standards and governance for the virtual world is a difficult undertaking, as it is still new and everyone is learning as they go.
• AI plays an active role in the metaverse through intelligent agents to speed up the construction process and improve user experience.

Governments and industry are working on standardizing Web3 and the metaverse as AI raises the possibility of fraud and increases the need for governance.

• AI has the potential to deceive humans with infinite patience, and humans are not prepared for a world where machines are indistinguishable from humans.
• Humans can adapt to technology, but the transition to the AI ​​era will be difficult.
• As the metaverse becomes more widely adopted, government attitudes towards it are also changing, creating a need for governance and standards.
• Governments and industry standards bodies are working towards standardizing Web3 and the metaverse, with the EU, US and China having the most influence in terms of regulation.

The internet was originally developed by the US government, bringing regulatory challenges to innovation in the metaverse and financial services.

• The Internet was originally developed by the US government as a distributed communications network that could withstand nuclear attack, and the Web's heritage is rooted in government research and development that led to commercial and cultural uses with the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989.
• A legacy of government and regulatory tailwinds shaped the web's first era, and proposals to regulate the internet could limit the number of websites.
• The regulations and updates in telecommunications law created the conditions for the commercial web to grow in value and usefulness, and these regulations are still in place today.
• Innovations in the metaverse, such as blockchain and digital assets, face regulatory challenges due to concerns and lack of clarity.
• Financial services are highly regulated, but the metaverse presents a new frontier with potential regulatory challenges.

The metaverse and Web3 are challenging traditional finance and creating new opportunities for artists and creators to reach global audiences.

• The issue of buying and selling virtual assets is whether they qualify as the sale of securities or capital gains.
• Financial regulatory frameworks in the metaverse will need to adapt to reflect the new realities of digital assets and virtual goods.
• Speakers were excited about how the metaverse will revolutionize culture by offering new business models.
• While artists historically were dependent on wealthy patrons, industrialization and the rise of modern capitalism allowed them to sell their work directly to large audiences.
• Industrial age creators were able to reach large audiences and make a living through mass communication and a mass market for culture.
• The internet was meant to benefit creators by cutting out the middleman, but instead it has turned music into a free commodity, created new middlemen, and reduced transparency for artists.

Web3 and the Metaverse offer solutions to culturally broken business models: NFTs allow creators to earn royalties, and the Metaverse offers the opportunity for immersive experiences and fair compensation.

• While AI poses a threat to cultural creators, Web 3 and the blockchain-enabled metaverse offer potential solutions to culture's broken business models.
• NFTs allow creators to earn royalties in perpetuity by reselling their digital assets, and can also be programmed to pay out to the original creators each time they are spent by AI.
• The metaverse will provide an opportunity for immersive experiences and creators to use tokens to represent digital assets such as credentials, tickets or unique services.
• The metaverse will enable immersive cultural experiences while ensuring fair compensation to creators, creating something greater than the sum of its parts through the synergy of blockchain and augmented reality.
• Web 3 offers insights and examples for understanding and shaping the future of the Internet.
• Alex Tapscott takes to Twitter to share useful content and discuss his forays into the metaverse.

Links

What is EVERDOME?

EVERDOME Official Website