PhD Researcher - UCD
Title: Imagining and Designing the Metaverse
Supervision Team: Eugenia Siapera, UCD / Aphra Kerr, TU Dublin / Cathy Ennis, TU Dublin
Paper: The role of the metaverse in calibrating an embodied artificial general intelligence
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ABSTRACT
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This paper examines the concept of embodied artificial general intelligence (AGI) and its relationship to human consciousness, and the key role of the metaverse in facilitating this relationship. The paper leverages theoretical frameworks such as embodied cognition, Michael Levin's computational boundary of a "Self," Donald D. Hoffman's Interface Theory of Perception, and Bernardo Kastrup's analytical idealism to build the argument for achieving embodied AGI. It contends that our perceived outer reality is a symbolic representation of alternate inner states of being, and that AGI could embody a higher consciousness with a larger computational boundary. The paper further discusses the developmental stages of AGI, the requirements for the emergence of an embodied AGI, the importance of a calibrated symbolic interface for AGI, and the key role played by the metaverse, decentralized systems, open-source blockchain technology, as well as open-source AI research. It also explores the idea of a feedback loop between AGI and human users in metaverse spaces as a tool for AGI calibration, as well as the role of local homeostasis and decentralized governance as preconditions for achieving a stable embodied AGI. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of achieving a certain degree of harmony in human relations and recognizing the interconnectedness of humanity at a global level, as key prerequisites for the emergence of a stable embodied AGI.
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Keywords: Artificial General Intelligence, Metaverse, LLMs, Embodied cognition, consciousness, sentience.
Socio-technical imaginaries of the metaverse
Interest in the metaverse has increased dramatically since Mark Zuckerberg’s talk in October 2021. By turning to the metaverse, Facebook/Meta indicated a paradigm shift from a platform and social media based internet to an immersive, integrated and experience-based environment. But what precisely the metaverse will be is still undetermined, indicating that the current period will shape its future form. It is therefore important to study the sociotechnical imaginaries around the metaverse as they will end up feeding into relevant policy and to the design of metaverse applications. The project focuses on two key areas, games and health, and seeks to identify the sociotechnical imaginaries of metaverse applications in these areas as they are encountered among different publics, including technology developers, gamers/users, and public bodies. The project explores their views on challenges around user engagement, privacy and other ethical issues, including transparency, human dignity, individual and societal wellbeing, transparency, accountability and non-discrimination. The outcome of the research is expected to include a set of ethical and policy guidelines for the metaverse.
Contact
For queries related to my PhD research, please contact me on my UCD email.