The emergence of the metaverse has enabled many things beyond our imagination, shaping the future of work, mental health, and influential marketing concepts. However, at a time when artificial intelligence (AI) is flourishing, the future of the metaverse seems to be in a precarious situation.
When Facebook renamed itself 'Meta' to indicate its new direction and ambitions, it spent billions of dollars trying to become synonymous with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). However, after suffering a loss of $26 billion from this new business, 'Meta' decided to shift its focus to the field of AI. This is not surprising, as the success of OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot in recent months has inspired many other companies to follow suit and expand their business using the advantages of generative AI technology.
Facebook's parent company Meta will assemble a new product team dedicated to generative artificial intelligence, bringing together various teams within the company to create innovative tools and experiences that will integrate this technology into all of Meta's products. The long-term goal is to develop AI characters to assist users in 'multiple ways.' Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on February 28.
But what does it mean for the entire metaverse?
How does the metaverse lose momentum?
When it comes to the metaverse, virtual land cannot be bypassed. It should be said that in the early development of the metaverse, virtual land can be regarded as synonymous with the metaverse.
In the metaverse, virtual real estate dominates, and the price of Ethereum directly affects the value of virtual land. However, the fluctuation of Ethereum prices has left many buyers and sellers in a predicament. According to WeMeta's data, this has resulted in a significant drop in the average selling price of virtual land, plummeting from over $11,000 to less than $2,000.
In addition, in 2022, the virtual land sales of Ethereum-based metaverse projects (such as Sandbox and Decentraland) suffered a sharp decline, and their valuations and other key metrics also saw significant downturns.
In February 2022, the average price of land sold on Decentraland reached a historical high of $37200. However, by August 1st, its value had dropped to around $5100 on average. Similarly, the average price of land sold on Sandbox plummeted from around $35500 in January to around $2800 in August.
The volatility of cryptocurrency prices, especially Ethereum prices, has introduced a new level of uncertainty to the market, making investors uncertain about the future of their virtual assets. In addition, the current metaverse lacks proper infrastructure, governance, and collaboration mechanisms. This may be why some people think that, in its current state, the metaverse is just a marketing ploy.
The potential of AI
Over the past three years, generative AI solutions have attracted more than $1.7 billion in venture capital, with AI-assisted drug discovery and AI software coding being the two most funded areas.
With the rapid development of artificial intelligence field, its impact is affecting various industries, including marketing and media. Leading research and consulting firm Gartner predicts that the use of generative artificial intelligence in these fields will increase significantly in the coming years.
By 2025, it is expected that the marketing information sent by large organizations will be generated by artificial intelligence, and this proportion will increase from less than 2% in 2022 to over 30%. The impact of generative artificial intelligence will not stop there. According to Gartner's prediction, around 2030, a blockbuster movie may be released, with 90% of its content from text to video generated by AI.
Although generative artificial intelligence has enormous potential, it currently faces accessibility limitations. For example, the ChatGPT mechanism is not open-sourced, which means it cannot be publicly accessed. This restriction makes it difficult for other companies to replicate the technology. However, Facebook aims to introduce smaller, enterprise-ready, and optimized AI models, which will help make generative AI more widely available and easier to access.
The death of the metaverse: trend or reality?
While some reports suggest this is the end of the metaverse, some believe we should not associate Meta's new direction with the development of the entire metaverse. For example, computer scientist Roy Amara proposed Amara's Law, pointing out that humans often mistakenly judge the timing and potential of technological breakthroughs, with a tendency to overestimate their short-term impact and underestimate their long-term potential. This trend is also reflected in the skepticism and hype surrounding emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). Even the Internet was once seen as a trend.
In addition, AI - especially generative AI - may even have the potential to advance the development of the metaverse by creating more compelling environments and characters.
More importantly, some people firmly deny that the metaverse will die or decrease in its popularity. However, with many companies adopting metaverse technology, this field will flourish. To achieve this, some structural changes are needed. For example, VR headsets need to be cheaper, and virtual systems need to perform better in terms of privacy.
Almost every new invention has been a passionate dream - usually a frightening one. However, over time, these new technologies have become so deeply ingrained in our daily lives that we cannot imagine a day without them. Perhaps this is the fate of the metaverse. If not, then another immersive technological invention will replace it, leaving us to debate whether the metaverse is at dawn or in decline.
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Is the Metaverse rising and falling because of the rise of AI?
Author: Alinda Gupta
Compiled by oneflumen, Centreless
The emergence of the metaverse has enabled many things beyond our imagination, shaping the future of work, mental health, and influential marketing concepts. However, at a time when artificial intelligence (AI) is flourishing, the future of the metaverse seems to be in a precarious situation.
When Facebook renamed itself 'Meta' to indicate its new direction and ambitions, it spent billions of dollars trying to become synonymous with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). However, after suffering a loss of $26 billion from this new business, 'Meta' decided to shift its focus to the field of AI. This is not surprising, as the success of OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot in recent months has inspired many other companies to follow suit and expand their business using the advantages of generative AI technology.
Facebook's parent company Meta will assemble a new product team dedicated to generative artificial intelligence, bringing together various teams within the company to create innovative tools and experiences that will integrate this technology into all of Meta's products. The long-term goal is to develop AI characters to assist users in 'multiple ways.' Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on February 28.
But what does it mean for the entire metaverse?
How does the metaverse lose momentum?
When it comes to the metaverse, virtual land cannot be bypassed. It should be said that in the early development of the metaverse, virtual land can be regarded as synonymous with the metaverse.
In the metaverse, virtual real estate dominates, and the price of Ethereum directly affects the value of virtual land. However, the fluctuation of Ethereum prices has left many buyers and sellers in a predicament. According to WeMeta's data, this has resulted in a significant drop in the average selling price of virtual land, plummeting from over $11,000 to less than $2,000.
In addition, in 2022, the virtual land sales of Ethereum-based metaverse projects (such as Sandbox and Decentraland) suffered a sharp decline, and their valuations and other key metrics also saw significant downturns.
In February 2022, the average price of land sold on Decentraland reached a historical high of $37200. However, by August 1st, its value had dropped to around $5100 on average. Similarly, the average price of land sold on Sandbox plummeted from around $35500 in January to around $2800 in August.
The volatility of cryptocurrency prices, especially Ethereum prices, has introduced a new level of uncertainty to the market, making investors uncertain about the future of their virtual assets. In addition, the current metaverse lacks proper infrastructure, governance, and collaboration mechanisms. This may be why some people think that, in its current state, the metaverse is just a marketing ploy.
The potential of AI
Over the past three years, generative AI solutions have attracted more than $1.7 billion in venture capital, with AI-assisted drug discovery and AI software coding being the two most funded areas.
With the rapid development of artificial intelligence field, its impact is affecting various industries, including marketing and media. Leading research and consulting firm Gartner predicts that the use of generative artificial intelligence in these fields will increase significantly in the coming years.
By 2025, it is expected that the marketing information sent by large organizations will be generated by artificial intelligence, and this proportion will increase from less than 2% in 2022 to over 30%. The impact of generative artificial intelligence will not stop there. According to Gartner's prediction, around 2030, a blockbuster movie may be released, with 90% of its content from text to video generated by AI.
Although generative artificial intelligence has enormous potential, it currently faces accessibility limitations. For example, the ChatGPT mechanism is not open-sourced, which means it cannot be publicly accessed. This restriction makes it difficult for other companies to replicate the technology. However, Facebook aims to introduce smaller, enterprise-ready, and optimized AI models, which will help make generative AI more widely available and easier to access.
The death of the metaverse: trend or reality?
While some reports suggest this is the end of the metaverse, some believe we should not associate Meta's new direction with the development of the entire metaverse. For example, computer scientist Roy Amara proposed Amara's Law, pointing out that humans often mistakenly judge the timing and potential of technological breakthroughs, with a tendency to overestimate their short-term impact and underestimate their long-term potential. This trend is also reflected in the skepticism and hype surrounding emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). Even the Internet was once seen as a trend.
In addition, AI - especially generative AI - may even have the potential to advance the development of the metaverse by creating more compelling environments and characters.
More importantly, some people firmly deny that the metaverse will die or decrease in its popularity. However, with many companies adopting metaverse technology, this field will flourish. To achieve this, some structural changes are needed. For example, VR headsets need to be cheaper, and virtual systems need to perform better in terms of privacy.
Almost every new invention has been a passionate dream - usually a frightening one. However, over time, these new technologies have become so deeply ingrained in our daily lives that we cannot imagine a day without them. Perhaps this is the fate of the metaverse. If not, then another immersive technological invention will replace it, leaving us to debate whether the metaverse is at dawn or in decline.