Author: Josh Entsminger, Mark Esposito, Terence Tse
Publisher: Project Syndicate
Publication Year: 2022
Summary: The following article discusses how the “metaverse” is a term describing a dystopian society characterized by the immersion of virtual reality into daily life. The development of new technologies as we head towards the metaverse requires greater focus on data ethics to monitor these developments. As ethics fall behind in the tradeoff between technology and ethical use, governance models for corporations are recommended to regulate data ethics. As seen by inaccurate facial recognition used in predictive policing, artificial intelligence (AI) has a high potential for perpetuating racial biases and breeding inequality. There exists conflict between the public’s push for ethical standards and businesses’ models and priority on technological advancements. Although many corporations have brought in consultants and independent ethics boards, questions about reliability are raised when these external groups challenge a corporation and are consequently removed. As the metaverse moves towards a hyper-capitalist society centered around the consumer, more behavioral risks and challenges will begin to surface. The AI industry can get ahead by establishing an ethical foundation that mitigates the rise of new issues as technologies progress. Continuing to let the digital age progress without regulation of ethics will lead to social injustices and abuse of power, even more than it has thus far.