The Metaverse of Zuckerberg has not convinced the former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt, who did not hide his concerns in an interview with the New York Times
Less than a week ago Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, has communicated in one fell swoop two epochal turning points for the big company of which he is at the helm: the parent company of the various social as Instagram or Messenger will no longer be called Facebook (the name of the blue social will not undergo changes) but Meta, and announced the world the Metaverse project.
Meta will therefore be the company behind Facebook and company and also the Metaverse, which inspired its name. The project, which has a quite wide time horizon, consists of a virtual space generated by computers and servers occupied by computerized three-dimensional reconstructions of the users who participate, the so-called avatars. Zuckerberg then imagines the Metaverse as a huge virtual room in which, whoever wants, can interact with other avatars behind which are hidden real people, existing, in turn entered the Metaverse. A system that will be useful both for leisure and for work, in a sort of Second Life that from video game ends up being a virtual reality and in which Microsoft is about to enter.
Who will decide the rules of the Metaverse?
The idea of the Metaverse of Zuckerberg has not convinced the former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, who led the search giant from 2001 to 2011. Schmidt spoke knowledgeably: he is one of the co-authors of The Age of AI, L'era dell'intelligenza artificiale in Italian, a book in which he discusses the opportunities, consequences and dangers of a world based on machine intelligence.
During an interview with the New York Times, Schmidt admitted his misgivings. "Whether AI is friend or foe? I prefer to think that the relationship with humans is one of friendship," hinting without too many filters that this is a double-edged sword that humanity will have to use and evolve with great consciousness.
On the subject of the Metaverse, the former Google CEO was even harder and blunt: "All the people who talk about the Metaverse refer to a world that is more rewarding than the current one: you're richer, more fascinating, more beautiful, more powerful and even faster - said Schmidt to the prestigious American newspaper - So, in a few years, I think people will choose to spend more time with a visor on their head than in the real world.
Finally, the former Google CEO wonders, "Who will choose the rules of this new world? In this way, the world will tend to be more digital than physical, and I don't think this is necessarily a positive innovation for humanity."
Widespread skepticism toward the Metaverse
Schmidt is not the only one to have greeted the novelty announced by Zuckerberg as well as the direction taken by technological evolution with skepticism. Previously, the number one of Tesla, Elon Musk, had expressed himself, saying that he doesn't have too much confidence in the security and transparency that artificial intelligence can guarantee.
But, more generally, a bit all the intellectuals of the globe are questioning the infinite possibilities of the metaverse, as well as its risks.