![]() ![]() Businesses, regulators, and society at large should confront key questions related to its development today to ensure that the internet and associated technologies elevate us as human beings. Toward a human-centered next internetĪn immersive and intelligent internet is inevitable, but a human-centered one is not. 10 With these large investments, the next-generation internet is already in the process of being built and will connect millions of users simultaneously in persistent, immersive worlds that bridge the physical and digital. 9 By 2025, 5G networks will likely cover one-third of the world’s population, which will provide the technical infrastructure to enable low-latency connections and support an instantaneous metaverse. 7 In 2022, the trend continued, with a US$65 billion metaverse market, 8 while global funding for AI amounted to US$48 billion. At the time of writing this article, Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard for US$70 billion and has made a multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI 5 Meta (formerly Facebook) spent US$10 billion on the metaverse in 2021 6 and SoftBank invested US$150 million in Zepeto, one of Asia’s most popular metaverse platforms. The second is technological gravity: A large volume of capital from big technology firms and investors is flowing into metaverse and AI technologies. Their demand for these experiences will shape the evolution of the internet. For the younger generation, these interconnected “phygital” worlds-a blend of physical and digital-will become the norm that they gravitate toward in both work and life, not just in the realm of games. 4 As this population becomes active consumers, by 2030, the notion of living in these intelligent virtual worlds will come naturally to them. 3 A recent United Nations report also found that 93% of youth have a positive perception of AI and robots, with 80% interacting with AI multiple times a day. The generative AI tool ChatGPT has outpaced the growth of any prior technology and accumulated 100 million users in two months, 2 with the majority of its users aged between 25 and 34. 1 Other early metaverse platforms such as Fortnite, Zepeto, and Sandbox also boast millions of users. Roblox, a popular metaverse gaming platform among young people, has 50.4 million daily active users worldwide. The first is generational gravity: Increasingly, the youth are spending more time in virtual, immersive worlds and using AI tools. The next evolution of the internet will inevitably include a highly immersive metaverse powered by AI, with near-instantaneous interactions made possible through advances in connectivity. The question is, what will it take to ensure that the internet evolves to be more human-centric than techno-centric?Ī more immersive, instantaneous, and intelligent internet is inevitable As these technologies change the way we create, relate, see the world, and move through it, we can collectively agree that it should amplify who we are as human beings, better equip us at work, and enhance how we live. ![]() As a species, we need to think through the potential existential effects of the next evolution of the internet. ![]()
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