Our Next Reality: How the AI-powered Metaverse Will Reshape the World

by Alvin Wang Graylin, Louis Rosenberg, Neal Stephenson Narrated by Ciaran Saward

Overview

"Our Next Reality does a fantastic job of giving a balanced and insightful analysis to some of the most pressing questions our society will face in the near future. The material is data driven, digestible, and very actionable." RAY KURZWEIL, Author/Entrepreneur/Futurist

"A wide-reaching exploration of the intersections between AI, VR and AR: it's a mind-opener, and a source of reflection on how transformative and still unknown the future of communication, personal technology and even personal privacy might become." SCOTT STEIN, Editor at Large, CNET

Over the last 100 years, technology has changed our world. Over the next decade it will transform our reality.

We are entering a new technological age in which artificial intelligence and immersive media will transform society at all levels, mediating our lives by altering what we see, hear, and experience. Powered by immersive eyewear and driven by interactive AI agents, this new age of computing has the potential to make our world a magical place where the boundaries between the real and the virtual, the human and the artificial, rapidly fade away. If managed well, this could unleash a new age of abundance. If managed poorly, this technological revolution could easily go astray, deeply compromising our privacy, autonomy, agency, and even our humanity.

In Our Next Reality, two industry veterans provide a data-driven debate on whether the new world we're creating will be a technological utopia or an AI-powered dystopia and give guidance on how to aim for the best future we can. With a Foreword by renowned author Neal Stephenson and section contributions from industry thought-leaders such as Peter H. Diamandis, Tom Furness, Phillip Rosedale, Tony Parisi, Avi Bar Zeev and Walter Parkes, this book answers over a dozen of the most pressing questions we face as artificial intelligence and spatial computing accelerates the digitization of our world. Find out why our actions in the next decade could determine the trajectory of our species for countless millennia.

"For anyone who wants to use AI and XR to help build the future, read this book to help you skillfully navigate a future of unprecedented danger and promise." JASON HINER, Editor in Chief, ZDNet

"Our Next Reality really is a must-read for anyone who wants to prepare for the massive AI and XR driven disruption coming our way." CHARLIE FINK, Author | Adjunct | Forbes Tech Columnist

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

05/01/2024

Artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) experts Graylin, a tech entrepreneur and executive focusing on AI and AR projects, and Rosenberg, CEO of the artificial intelligence company Unanimous AI, offer a sympathetic view of the future metaverse. They define "the metaverse" as a societal shift from viewing flat media as an observer (third person) to a digital world that enables people to have immersive experiences (first person). Their book describes the various forms of VR and AR, the technologies' origins in the 1990s, when NASA researchers developed an AR system, and the ways in which various industries and the public use the technology today. They acknowledge that there are concerns that fictional AI characters such as Hal 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey or Ultron from Avengers: Age of Ultron are indicative of technology that can develop into real-life societal threats. But they argue that those worries are overblown. To that end, they give a highly complex, philosophical discourse on the nature of consciousness and conclude that if AI ever forms consciousness, it will also likely gain compassion and not view human beings as threats. VERDICT This book about AI and its future contains complicated technical and philosophical concepts, but general readers, researchers, and tech professionals will find it thought-provoking.—John Napp

Product Details

BN ID:	2940193094968
Publisher:	Octopus Books
Publication date:	03/05/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

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