The Universe, The Metaverse and the Underverse: A foresight study on the shape of things to come
By: Nader Naghshineh, Humanics Laboratory, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran
Abstract:
If we are to define humanity by one single overriding trait, that would be its drive to control and modify reality of its being. It produced a constant stream of artifacts to shorten the lead and even to keep it ahead of the experience curve. Rituals, games, representations and model are all means to such an end. The presentation will deal with some of the studies made in Humanics lab.
While metaverse has become a buzzword, it is often dismissed in its current iteration as a hyped up product of a gilded corporatocracy. Metaverse as a concept has been with us for the past 50 years. Only recently the combination of disruptive technologies, ambient computing and a pandemic has made it surface anew. By some definition it is nothing more than a glorified mobile internet 2.0; while others consider it as a harbinger of a truly cyber-symbiosis between the organics and the AI.
Implementation of a Metaverse, whereby you can easily step into it from your existential reality is a tall order. However, there are still pockets where a limited form can be ushered. The central question is seamless reality hopping.
It is a hybridization of virtual and personal experience, especially at work. This is very different from Mike Zuckerberg’s two hour promise of pie in the sky.
Currently if the technology matures, the Metaverse can be implemented only in a handful of industrial countries that have the requisite energy output as well as legal and financial framework. For the rest it is merely a toy and worst a ploy by the corporations to control their creativity as well assets. Countries without an AI infrastructure will suffer badly. For the metaverse to function in Zuckerberg fashion you need to first develop not the hardware but the still ephemeral concept called the Internet of Artificial Intelligences. Each human being in order to cope with the information deluge when “metaversing” would need to have an AI assistant to keep the information manageable.
However, in our study we assumed that cloud based AI for hire would be a reality 15 years down the road. We decided to see what the job market would look like in say 2035. Given Iran’s checkered AI capabilities as well as low ICT assets, the scenario pointed to an uneasy tripartite balance between Metaverse, Universe and an evolved form of DarkNet which we decided to call for lack of better term, the Underverse.
Here are some of the jobs for 2035:
Metaverse Tour Guide
Metaverse Ecosystem (world) designer
Metaverse Crypto Exchange
Metaverse Fashion Designer
Metaverse Reality Augmentors
Metaverse Broadcasting
Metaverse Resurrectors (dependent on the power of AI Client Agent)
Metaverse Aparatchiks.
Asilomar AI Ethics Officers
Keyword: Metaverse, Foresight Method, Future Jobs, Asilomar AI Ethics,