The Metaverse Diaries, A History of the Future -Part 3
April 2027. Artificial Intelligence in Earth2; Swimming With Dolphins.
Around Earth 2’s (E2’s) second birthday in late 2022, the players received their first access to E2V1, the first, reduced resolution 3D version of E2. First came the research buildings, then the buildings producing construction materials. Eventually there arrived residential and commercial buildings, social hubs, market places, educational facilities, entertainment venues and sports arenas.
At first, landowners were happy to run their own venues and entertain their customers, often with the help of friends and family. However, as E2’s user base increased, that became impractical. The first bots, similar to those iNFTs (intelligent non-fungible tokens) launched by Alethea.ai, based on GPT-3 general AI were then launched, completely revolutionising customer service. These bots were immediately capable of identifying individual players, addressing them correctly, accessing their account details, serving drinks, food and retail goods and handling transactions. By monitoring customer habits, attitude and conversations, they were able to learn the correct interactions for each customer. Within a year, a study of the bots by researchers in the field had shown that the AIs could make suggestions based on a customer’s most frequent purchases, learn and tell jokes appropriate to the individual, discuss the weather, current affairs and recent sporting events relating to both E1 and 2. They could identify when use of first names was appropriate, lead conversations and take appropriate action in the event of customers’ bad behaviour, including cessation of service and invoking security measures. If landowners invested in knowledge staking, the process by which bots were trained to higher levels including GPT-4, a broader range of services became available, including empathy, encouragement, relationship mentoring, moderate role-playing and even flirting.
Some of the customers’ comments recorded at #RealReviews included,
“I can do all my shopping in E2 now, no need to visit E1 shops ever again! And no online form filling, remembering passwords or two factor authentication. They just know me!”
“I make a point of visiting the Kings Arms because Jeff the barman is always so friendly, always makes time to chat, and he knows more about Manchester United than I do.”
“Michelle at the Harbour Cafe was so supportive when my marriage broke down, she even fixed me up with my new love, José. She’s always there for me.”
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“I’ve always enjoyed the craic at The Irish Bar, but on Saturday night, Declan refused to serve me, told me to go home and called me a cab. Thank goodness. I think he saved my marriage. I owe him one.”
“With her wild red hair, deep green eyes, amazing singing voice and knowledge of Scottish folk songs as well as scotch whiskies, Rowan has stolen my heart. I think I’m in love”.
“Go to ‘Loose Ends’ hair salon for an ASMR haircut. You’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven. You know what I mean ;) Seriously…”
Bots in retail, employed by landowners with businesses in both E1 and E2 soon provided the opportunity for purchases in both domains. For example, a customer using a special life-size constructed avatar could try on a pair of shoes and buy one pair for E2 and have a second, physical pair delivered to their address in E1. ‘Purchase mirroring’ was born. Bot-controlled car and bike rental allowed players to choose any car, motorcycle or bicycle on the lot and drive or ride away immediately. No paperwork or online forms were required, all the customer’s details were known and accounts updated immediately.
Another revolutionary use for AI within E2, never seen in any other metaverse project at the time, was in animals, both as pets and in the wild. Thanks to the technology, cats could be created or purchased and programmed to be friendly and affectionate, rather than independent and aloof. With a choice of 140 breeds of dog from mongrels to pedigree, all tastes were catered for, including several breeds unique to E2. Most owners opted for ‘no bodily functions’ which allowed for optional eating but avoided toiletting, or leg humping. Short term contracts allowed customers to have pets for just a few days or weeks if required. This was particularly popular at holiday season, when E2 Pet Services advertised, “Get a dog this festive season. It’s not for life, it’s just for Christmas”. Alternatively, pet owners who were particularly attached to their dogs could opt for the “No Rainbow Bridge” option, allowing owners to avoid ever having to part from their beloved animals. “Permapuppies” were also very popular, particularly with children.
This year’s latest animal attraction, using advanced animal AI and full body haptic feedback has been incredibly popular. It is now available at over twenty tropical and sub-tropical resorts throughout Earth 2. This interview for E2TV from ‘Soothsayer26’ of Hemel Hempstead, England sums up a first-time experience very well.
“I’m still in shock, I don’t know where to start. That was the most amazing, emotional, sensation-rich, magical, joyous….no…rapturous, feeling of my entire life. I’d always wanted to swim with dolphins, ever since being a little girl. They always seemed so ‘in touch’ with us, so friendly, and gentle. When Rob the instructor led me to the water’s edge, he advised me to use the avatar provided by Marine Life Experiences rather than my own. When I entered the water, the six dolphins there seemed to introduce themselves to me with a few clicks and swim around me as if they themselves were so happy to be with me. They circled me a couple of times and then took off at a moderate speed. I thought perhaps my experience was coming to an early end, but I tried to follow them and was surprised to find that I could keep up with them. I thought they must be making allowances for me, and this was a part of the experience, but they dived and I dived, much deeper than I had expected. Just as I was beginning to worry about the depth and whether I could hold my breath, they turned in perfect, beautiful unison and charged for the surface at maximum speed. Incredibly, I kept up with them, and when we broke the surface into bright sunlight we must have jumped twenty-five feet into the air, all seven of us in line together. I finally realised what had happened. I was a freakin’ dolphin. We carried on for around forty minutes, chasing, racing and leaping like the most simple and joyous celebration of existence. That’s the only way I can describe it.”
Coming possibilities. Dates indicate setting, not delivery dates…
Summer 2022, Waiting for My Metaverse. “But there is no game”. Boomer Whales.
November 2027 After Dolphins, Holiday in the Species of Your Choice
July 2028 The Ethics of Hunting. Is Gun Control Necessary?
December 2030 Celebrity Christmas Special. After several music videos, is it time to move in?
February 2031 The Challenge of a Bucket List when Everything Is Possible
April 2035 “O Death, where is thy sting?” There definitely is life after death, but then what?
This article and other articles in this series are works of speculative fiction and do not represent any knowledge of future features of Earth2 on the part of the author. For entertainment purposes only.
