With the drama surrounding Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, it’s easy to think the company “owns” The Metaverse. That's not the case; there are collections of Metaverses online ranging from Sandbox to Decentraland, usually revolving around funnelling their player base into expensive crypto schemes.
Additionally, there's a new Metaverse on the horizon, one created by tech startup Sensorium Corp. The company's digital environments are envisioned as a way to create an “immersive” social space across “endless worlds”. However, the proposed relaxing digital worlds are struggling with misinformation.
Misinformation infects The Metaverse
Reported by Bloomberg, trial runs of Sensorium Corp's Metaverse showed issues with misinformation. While players can use the virtual world to interact or explore digital environments, they can also interact with AI programs.
During a recent demonstration, participants of the virtual world were invited to chat with an AI Bot named David. However, the group's interactions with the bald-headed NPC were more unnerved than impressed.
In the virtual world, players asked David what he thought of vaccines. Immediately, the Chat Bot spewed misinformation, claiming that vaccines are “more dangerous than the diseases they try to prevent”.
Read More: Meta awarded Worst Company of the Year amid Metaverse rebranding
Metaverse Moderation
In response to David’s anti-vaxxer outburst, Sensorium Corp will be modifying its Metaverse’s Chat Bot behaviours. In the future, multiple filters will limit what the AI is capable of discussing with users. However, there may always be a margin for error.
Sensorium isn't the only company having issues with Metaverse Moderation. Following the launch of Horizon Worlds, Meta has already had issues with sexual harassment inside its Metaverse. Additionally, the company has already admitted that its virtual worlds will be impossible to moderate.
Traditional games and social media platforms already have issues with moderating harmful content. However, with The Metaverse combining the more complex aspects of both, it's a platform that is inherently difficult to control.