Can AI revitalise the metaverse?

Watch: How can AI revitalise the Metaverse?

Recent developments in artificial intelligence could revitalise the flagging concept of 'the metaverse' and enable an immersive internet where human creators receive royalties via micropayments when generative-AI recombines their work, a VC founder has claimed.

On this week's episode of The Crypto Mile, Jamie Burke, founder of Outlier Ventures, discusses how the fusion of generative AI and web3 infrastructure could streamline content production while ensuring creator ownership and fair compensation.

Burke foresees AI agents recombining human-created digital assets, resulting in a surge of personalised content, with smart contracts securing royalty payments from numerous micropayments in digital currency.

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The founder of Outlier Ventures delved into the prospects of merging AI and the creative industry, particularly in the context of the metaverse, and enabling the web "to become immersive".

With the convergence of web3 and AI, Burke sees a world where each piece of AI-produced content can be repurposed and reused. He believes this has the potential to transform the economic structure of the creative industry. "What if every asset that's created becomes a unique NFT, and every time that asset is reused or a derivative is made of it, then royalties are paid to the original producer?" Burke posited.

Envisioning the future, Burke suggested that AI, with its ability to access a "universal library of content," will likely take the role of the primary creator, significantly condensing the media production timeline from years to days or weeks.

This process could "democratise the creative industries", and do for content production, what YouTube did for content distribution.

Burke outlined a new paradigm where royalties are dispensed as micropayments to those who own the assets as NFTs on the blockchain.

He further highlighted the importance of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) stored on the blockchain, offering an immutable foundation of ownership for artists and creators.

"The great thing about NFTs are, they can represent provenance. They can allow for a digital asset on a blockchain to be unique in some way, to have unique characteristics. And it will make sure that the owners of that asset are fairly remunerated," he stated.

Read more: AI film apps could see 'blockbusters created in bedrooms by end of the year', claims web3 adviser

Burke then detailed the evolution of content creation in the gaming industry and other forms of media, drawing parallels between their processes and the production of blockbuster films. "It actually takes the same amount of money, time, and people to create a AAA game as it does a blockbuster movie. It's hundreds of people. It's three to four years," Burke explained. He highlighted the insatiable demand for content and the current limitations of the traditional, industrialised production process.

The future of content creation, according to Burke, lies in generative AI. "We're already seeing now with things like generative AI the ability to create, end to end, a game leveraging generative AI with one solo creator instructing it," he said, emphasising that this technology significantly reduces production time.

The intersection between AI, web3 and the metaverse

In a recent initiative by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the use of AI and its potential to expedite the development of the metaverse was discussed.

As the metaverse evolves, these organizations underscore the importance of integrating generative AI to create dynamic and personalized virtual environments, facilitating collaboration and understanding. With this integration, it is hoped that the metaverse can be developed at a faster pace, bringing us closer to a future where AI has a transformative impact on nearly everything we do.

The fusion of AI, blockchain technology, and the creative industry promises a significant shift in media production. With generative AI accelerating the creation process and blockchain ensuring fair remuneration through unique NFTs, this technological synergy could democratise the creative industries. We are now at the point of convergence of three developments; blockchain-based ownership, the immersive web, or metaverse, and the transformative power of AI. These emergent technologies will reshape the online world that has become essential to modern life.

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