Insights
Metaverse and AI: Have the Barriers between the Virtual World and the Real World Been Eliminated?
By Mostafa Metwaly
“What is real?” This question was raised in The Matrix, one of the best sci-fi movies in the last 30 years.
Throughout the entire movie, Morpheus raised this question in order to find out what’s real and what’s virtual, especially after Neo’s experience in the simulated world, illustrating the elimination of barriers between virtual reality (VR) and physical reality.
Though it seems as if we are following the White Rabbit, I believe, as a person who loves and is obsessed with technology, that Metaverse may turn the computer-based, fictional world into a reality and may make Neo’s dream come true. Noteworthy, what pushes both the Matrix and Metaverse forward is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its ability to analyze and manage Big Data.
From Fiction to Reality
Though social media is mainly a platform through which people can interact and communicate, it has become more than that since teenagers, notably Generation Z, are highly reliant on it. It was developed in a way to create a mixed reality, which is a blend of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and physical reality. Therefore, tech giants are taking steps to make Neo’s dream achievable by using AI, with the aim of improving our lives.
A while ago (December 2021), The Matrix Resurrections, the fourth part of the Matrix franchise, was released in theaters. This newly released part comes in conformity with Metaverse – the latest and the most covered topic in tech news nowadays – which aspires to push people to follow the White Rabbit and enter the virtual world in the post-COVID-19 era. Needless to say, no tech company can do such a huge leap solely, unless it uses a very sophisticated AI platform that can analyze and manage a massive amount of data collected from different sources.
In fact, all tech giants use very sophisticated AI systems that can analyze millions of multidimensional data collected from different people with different attitudes and interests. All of these thrust ahead the Metaverse world. Hence, I believe that human beings are at the crossroads as they can either benefit from AI or be compromised and controlled by it.
Warnings and Future Actions
I believe that AI is a great opportunity for institutions and entities as it improves their internal systems and operations and provides many alternatives for economic development. However, AI may become uncontrollable if AI ethics are not embedded in the AI-enabled systems and if the purpose of developing an AI system is unknown. Hence, each country that uses AI should train future generations on how to control AI systems given that AI has become an essential part of our lives the same as mobile phones. You cannot live without a mobile phone, but if you don’t protect your mobile with privacy and security applications, it can turn into a spy.
In conclusion, we need to manage and control AI usage rather than abandoning it since it will help us to make future digital decisions without being monitored or tracked. I believe that both AI and Metaverse complement each other and are inseparable. This in turn provides advanced analytics for everything you can imagine. I also believe that AI is laying the ground for turning the Matrix from an idea in a fictional movie into a reality. Accordingly, the world should take all of this in consideration and should adopt international regulations for developing ethical AI as soon as possible; otherwise, it will be like an atomic bomb or even more!