*verse has exploded. On the one hand the possibilities are a bit unnerving for some, but for others it looks like they were just waiting for the possibility of being in many worlds all their life. I think the realisation of omniverse/metaverse will hopefully shift us to do what we do best as human - be bored and get creative :). So I am mighty excited.
But here is the moot question. As with any new technology and its applications. The ethical discourse remains as opaque as it can be. Like with other technologies we may also find that the ethical discourse lags behind the slowest discourse of all time — the regulations. I am not sure if regulation helps, and am not even a proponent of regulations so not bothered about that. But, I think wearing an ethical lens will help in making responsible progress with this technology so that it is inclusive, accessible and equitable by design right from the nascent stages ( 5+ years, already sigh!!), we are in now.
Let me illustrate a scenario. I have been waiting to write this code (in doCoraki language (:p), so that I can just chill forever.
Nishanth.createInstance(“SW Developer”, 2, “Mgmt. consultant” 1 );
getAllInstances (“SW Developer’).getJobFromGig(“Highest Salary”).duration(“6 months)”.deploy();
getAllInstance (“Mgmt. Consultant”).apply(“Bain”);
getAllInstance().transferSalary(getRealLifeInstance().currentVacation().localBank().transfer(wallet(2000));
Happy scenario after this code is in production: I am at Mallorca having fine wine and tapas.
Of course, anyone in this scenario may get bored eventually of the “good life” and then to keep oneself engaged lift that tiny finger to work on things they like the most.
Finally, we are in paraidse I say. I think we will then be in the “creative economy” (just wanted to coin an economy coz it feels very serious like mobile economy, AI economy, Economy 4.0 — adding to the absurdities of hyphenated or not economies). All your survival needs are met, cause your avatars are doing the grudge work in the “*verse” to keep you alive & well fed.
As I was thinking about lifting my tiny finger to write a cool post. I thought of creating a new instance for a product manager (of course to make more money — the avatar exchange index suggests we can be bullish on product managers for the next 2 quarters). And, as I was about to deploy my instance…..
…..i get a log4j (😐) pop-up; and the door in my suite at Mallorca is flung open. Cops in full gear with guns pointed want to arrest me. Now, you would be thinking like what I am wondering — Is drinking wine or having tapas a crime? No, it is not.
So the cops are here for?
To cut the long story short. One of my “SW developer” instance encountered a trolley problem in Galapagos island. The choice made was not to the liking of the dispensation over there. And, so, here we are.
Now is it fair to arrest me, I mean the real me :)? Who should be arrested? Should it be the start-up who commissioned my avatar for this project from the gig? Would it be the “bootbook” who is responsible for metaverse platform (and the policies) where this avatar was brought to life? Or, would it be the creators of the AI engine in the metaverse platform which had all the moral principles encoded.
Since, we are in a pickle now. And we are a bit late, I am hoping that we can start deliberating with an ethical lens.