Microsoft CEO Endorses ChatGPT: The Key to Unlocking Metaverse Potential?
During a talk at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, expressed his support for advancements in blockchain, web3, and the metaverse.
However, he also stated that the industry needs a breakthrough similar to the development of ChatGPT, a language model created by OpenAI, in order to fully realize its potential.
Nadella acknowledged the value of distributed databases in blockchain technology and Microsoft’s current support for it.
He said, “All of these three things, web3, blockchain and the metaverse, are all going to happen. But you need to have the killer apps, what is the use case that gets broad adoption, what is the ChatGPT moment for blockchain?”
Since its release in November 2022, the AI tool ChatGPT has gained a significant user base, surpassing one million users.
ChatGPT, the AI tool, has seen a rapid uptake in users, surpassing the number of users that popular social media platform Facebook and streaming platform Netflix took months and years respectively to reach.
This is quite a accomplishment, especially when compared to the blockchain industry which took a while to gain momentum since the release of the bitcoin whitepaper in 2008.
ChatGPT has quickly become a popular topic in the tech industry, however, it remains to be seen if it will live up to the predictions of how disruptive it will be in people’s lives.
According to Semafor, a news outlet, Microsoft has decided to heavily invest in ChatGPT, an AI technology that has the potential to create a search engine that could overthrow Google’s dominance.
The tech giant is putting $10bn towards OpenAI, the company responsible for developing ChatGPT, which would bring the San Francisco-based firm’s value to $29bn.
Experts in the field suggest that Google should take notice of this significant investment.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is an advanced language processing model that has been developed using a vast amount of data. It is considered to be one of the most sophisticated AI applications available and is capable of producing a wide range of text, including computer code, poetry, humor, business documents, academic papers, and even creative writing in the style of various authors such as Joyce, Dostoyevsky, and Shakespeare.
What makes ChatGPT unique compared to other AI chat programs is its ability to generate responses in a natural and human-like manner. It uses a blend of natural language processing, machine learning, and graph theory to evaluate its performance in understanding and answering customer questions in an accurate way.
ChatGPT, an integral part of the metaverse?
There have been indications that AI chatbots could play a vital role in the Metaverse. These chatbots could help make the virtual world feel more inhabited and lifelike. However, as per the data from DappRadar, the metaverse platforms such as Decentraland and The Sandbox currently have a low number of daily users. The numbers reflect the number of unique wallet addresses interacting with the platform’s smart contract, which is lower than the actual number of unique visitors and is still below 10,000.
Nevertheless, AI chatbots are not subtle enough to blend seamlessly into the crowded Metaverse. Current chatbots are programmed to be well-behaved and avoid negative behaviors such as trolling or flaming, which could lead to a less engaging Metaverse experience. However, in the future, it is likely that the technology will improve and allow for a near-infinite amount of human-like conversations, making it a cost-effective and simple solution to populate virtual worlds.
As the popularity of metaverse platforms has risen, companies have taken advantage of the opportunity to increase their brand exposure and serve customer needs. As a matter of fact, some of the world’s largest brands have established digital storefronts in Decentraland in recent years, including Calvin Klein, Burberry, Nike, Louis Vuitton, and even KFC.
Using AI-based chatbots to staff these virtual stores allows these corporations to reduce labor costs. The use of customer service chatbots has been prevalent since the mid-2000s, with early examples such as SmarterChild, allowing users to communicate with a computer on MSN Messenger as early as 2001.
Nevertheless, the use of chatbot avatars in the Metaverse may make it seem less genuine. These chatbots may have robotic responses and make errors, which can lead to mistrust in the virtual world. Additionally, a large percentage of internet traffic is already made up of bots, and it’s possible that this could also happen in the Metaverse.
Furthermore, AI chatbots often give inaccurate answers and present them with excessive confidence, this is shown by example of Galactica, a language model created by Zuckerberg’s Meta, which was taken down after just three days due to incorrect and biased responses.
Last but not least, the use of AI chatbots as avatars in the Metaverse raises concerns about increased surveillance and the impact on privacy. As people spend more time in virtual worlds, the use of these chatbots could contribute to the collection and exploitation of personal data.
To prevent this, it is important for platforms and users to exercise caution in their use of AI chatbots. Additionally, without proper regulation, it may be difficult to distinguish between human and non-human entities in the virtual world, leading to potential dystopian scenarios.
In conclusion, ChatGPT is a powerful language model that has the ability to understand and respond to human language in a way that is both natural and intuitive. Its capabilities make it a valuable tool for creating engaging and interactive experiences in the metaverse.
As technology continues to advance, it is likely that ChatGPT will play an even more important role in helping to bring the metaverse to life and making it a more immersive and accessible place for people to explore and connect. Nevertheless, there is still so much to work on, as it has many downsides and can affect the metaverse negatively if not taken seriously.
