The role of AI in the Metaverse and Augmented Reality
Two tech advancements that have often been spoken about lately are AI and the Metaverse. We are said to be entering the age of AI. We will be able to see AI be able to write software. The impact that AI will have on the Metaverse and technologies like AR and VR is going to be game-changing.
We have seen such massive development in technology in the past twenty years but the next twenty is going to look like it is straight out of science fiction. The Metaverse is undeniably coming.
How does one define the Metaverse?
Right now, it is a little tricky. This is because this remains as a concept and no one has created this yet, so we do not know the exact scope of this. The term was originally coined in Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, where the Metaverse is an online universe perceived in a first-person perspective. This place exists regardless of whether or not you log in. It just exists always and you can access, change, leave and return to it.
While there are so many definitions, we can find a few common attributes to them. The Metaverse is an online world where a number of users can connect, network, and socialize in real-time. There are a lot of games and platforms that already fit this description, but a metaverse is slightly different from this. The Metaverse will allow users to create and share content that will shape the world around them.
The Metaverse could offer experiences, environments, and entities over the internet. Artificial Intelligence has given hand to the Metaverse to help in progressing at a rapid speed.
It’s just the beginning
We live in a world where the importance of the virtual world has increased and that of the physical world has reduced. A lot of people have had to get used to technology. With a smartphone and internet in almost everyone’s hands, the majority of the information is consumed online. The internet also remains to be a major source of entertainment.
Multiverse technology is now perceived as the future of the internet and with the pandemic, people rely on the virtual world as there is little to no scope for a physical connection. The Metaverse, combined with VR will have virtual environments or worlds where people from different corners of the world will be able to connect and interact.
Currently, users playing games like Minecraft and Fortnite act as the beginning of the Metaverse. They have been building cities, attending concerts and events, and connecting with friends. The future worlds can be expected to be more advanced, photorealistic, and inhabited by human avatars and AI.
What does AI have to do with the Metaverse?
Artificial Intelligence is going to lead in enabling, populating, and supporting the Metaverse. Here are some technology layers that AI will drive — providing scaffolding to creators, powering spatial computing, and supplying new forms of storytelling.
We’re already witnessing how AI can help with day-to-day tasks like coding, testing and even automatically generating entire segments of stories. We expect AI will play a role as a creative assistant working alongside human creators, automating mundane, repetitive, or challenging jobs as more individuals become digital content creators. AI systems will learn from previous patterns and examples from the Metaverse and apply what they’ve learned to new creative processes.
Understand the Audience
AI can be capable of learning your behavior, getting to know you to result in a personalized experience in the Metaverse. In a digital world, almost anything or anyone present there can be observed. Developers can record human behavior and create AI personas based on these. This can serve as models of the players in the metaverse. By doing so, AI personas will be able to predict how some players or a group of players will behave or act and uncover what their preferences, motivations, and interests might be.
Personalize the Metaverse
AI can learn and understand the audience, which will be a great addition to growing the audience base of the Metaverse. After all, publishers will need their players to return, grow and invest in the environment.
These predictions may then be utilized to personalize and adjust the player’s experience by presenting them with the most engaging content and interactions. Imagine having an AI system that curates or even creates content and experiences that are specifically customized to you.
This way, you can leave behind imprints in the Metaverse even when you are not logged in. Video games like Forza Motorsport have already used this concept. The game creates “Drivatars” who will be AI drivers that imitate your driving style and your friends can race against them when you are not online. Perhaps, in the future, the Metaverse might have AI versions of ourselves that can fill in when we are not around.
Customize to Thrive
You can look at this as an extension of customization. This has become an important feature in modern gaming. One great example was how Epic Games understood early on that customization and avatar expression attracted players from competing titles such a PUBG. Licensing pop-culture characters was how Fortnite keeps people in their Metaverse. People are always interested because one week, they’re holding a light saber and the next week they’re wearing an infinity gauntlet like Thanos.
As players utilize avatars as a means of expression, this degree of avatar detail and customization, as well as the opportunity for users to express themselves in new and interesting ways, may become the feature of any successful future metaverse project.
Games are increasing in scope and are attracting more players to log on. This makes manually managing the worlds less feasible, especially in the context of a Metaverse. AI could very well come into action here.
Artificial intelligence’s potential uses will be nearly infinite, ranging from creating digital landscapes to molding more realistic AI character behaviors to automated defect. I believe artificial intelligence will be critical in making things happen, regardless of the Metaverse’s final form.
