News JVTech Here’s how the metaverse can flip your brain
The metaverse has not yet been returned to mores, although it is the subject of dystopian theories. According to an expert in artificial intelligence, the virtual 3D world can be the scene of large-scale manipulation, especially thanks to deep fakes.
We are not telling you anything, the metaverse is still not relevant, even after the integration of Meta from Facebook in many countries. However, even if it is not yet a part of our daily life, many experts have started to think about many hypotheses about some twists in the metaverse.
In addition to the recreational and professional aspects attributed to it, the metaverse will surely become a place of malicious actions like the web as we know it today. Thus, some have begun to try to understand the issues surrounding this digital world before its widespread adoption. The goal is to find solutions if the metaverse will be inhabited by a good part of the terrestrial population.
In this context, many cybersecurity experts have already warned of the presence of a potential dark web in the metaverse: the darkverse.
This time, computer scientist Rand Waltzman warned against the misuse of deepfakes in the metaverse. Through his consultancy and research institute “RAND Corporation”, the artificial intelligence expert explains that metaverses like Meta can be the perfect environment to profit from deepfakes.
“Virtual reality environments will allow psychological and emotional manipulation of its users at a level unimaginable in the media today. explained the expert in a press release from the RAND Corporation.
Manipulators can pretend to be a public figure using deep technology to conduct disinformation campaigns. If this type of process already exists in the current web, in the metaverse the impact of this type of manipulation can be greatly increased.
In fact, the metaverse aims to simulate a real immersion in a parallel world with the help of virtual reality. In this sense, many users have the illusion of living a second digital life. According to the RAND Institute, this digital double will find its ideological integrity if it relies on some avatars encountered in its experiments in the synthetic world.
To illustrate his comments in other situations, Rand Waltzman relied on a series of experiments conducted by researchers at Stanford. The study specifically shows that by changing the features and physical characteristics of a politician to make him look like a potential voter, he is able to collect more votes from voters.
With these elements, the computer scientist transcribes the experience of the metaverse. It highlights in particular the ease of changing your avatar by using a deep trick in the metaverse. Thus, by changing his avatar face, a candidate can garner votes by manipulating the perception of each voter.
However, we can question whether the metaverse is really the problem because the body of a candidate, and even more so if it is virtual, is more important than the ideas presented…
Also, although it is almost certain that the metaverse will be the subject of political and other communication campaigns in the future – the virtual world of 3D must acquire more realism to allow this kind of manipulation. Indeed, ideological manipulation through deepfakes seems inappropriate in an environment that does not offer any illusion of immersion. Currently, users remain skeptical about the visual promise of the digital world, such as the recent criticism of Horizon World.