Sep 25, 2023 20:00:00

It is pointed out that ``In the Metaverse, information manipulation and false information are more prevalent than in traditional SNS''

Facebook

changed its name to Meta in 2021, aiming to focus on the `` Metaverse '', a three-dimensional virtual space and service built inside a computer. Regarding the Metaverse, which is attracting attention not only from Meta but also from multiple companies, the RAND Corporation, an American think tank, points out that ``The Metaverse will get worse in the future.''

Facebook Misinformation Is Bad Enough. The Metaverse Will Be Worse | RAND
https://www.rand.org/blog/2022/08/facebook-misinformation-is-bad-enough-the-metaverse.html

The Rand Corporation listed the following as plausible scenarios that could occur in the future Metaverse.

“A political candidate is giving a speech in front of millions of people. Each audience member thinks they are hearing the same speech, but in reality each audience member may be hearing a slightly different speech in the Metaverse. It's possible. You can create a sense of familiarity by subtly changing the candidate's face to resemble each viewer.'

Even if these operations were performed, the viewer would not be able to notice them. In fact, it has been shown that digitally manipulating the faces of political candidates can alter audience reactions in a positive way.

In an experiment conducted by researchers at Stanford University, images of unfamiliar politicians were edited to resemble the faces of each voter (subject), leading people to give them more favorable evaluations. It has been shown that this will happen. In experiments, even when 40% of the subject's features were blended into the candidate's face, the subjects did not notice that the image had been altered at all.

As such, the Rand Corporation points out that the metaverse built by companies like Meta will be able to manipulate users' psychological and emotional elements to a degree unimaginable with existing media.

Rand Waltzman of the RAND Corporation has been working on issues related to deception, disinformation, and artificial intelligence (AI) for nearly 40 years, including serving as a program manager at

the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for two terms. ``We are far from being able to protect our users from the threats posed by the coming new media (metaverse).Virtual reality allows malicious actors to tap into age-old dark traditions of deception and influence.'' 'It will take art to new heights.'

The feature of the Metaverse is that it gives you the feeling of being teleported to a virtual world. However, this may cause harm to users. Metaverse utilizes two characteristics to manipulate users' emotions: 'presence' and 'embodiment.'

'Presence' means that people feel that they are communicating directly without going through a computer interface, and 'embodiment' means that users feel that their avatar or virtual body is their real body. To do.

In particular, if you use VR to enter the Metaverse, you will be able to convey your intentions and emotions using nonverbal signs such as body language, gaze, gestures, and facial expressions. Therefore, by using VR and Metaverse, it is possible to have stronger communication that far exceeds text-based communication such as conventional email and SNS.

Using VR and the Metaverse, it is possible to communicate with the intensity of face-to-face communication, but the RAND Corporation says, ``This is both good news and scary news.'' This is because by using the techniques described above, users can be tricked and misinformationed via the Metaverse. It is pointed out that by combining existing techniques for manipulating individuals with the Metaverse, it will be possible to easily manipulate information by deceiving users or deceiving them with false information.

The RAND Corporation estimates that users will seamlessly integrate their experiences on the Metaverse with their understanding of things in the real world. In other words, by manipulating the information consumed by users on the Metaverse and manipulating users' emotions, media can change the way users view and understand the world, and even their actions, at will. .

Although it will still take time for such technology to be fully realized, the Rand Corporation points out that it is important to recognize the benefits and threats that the metaverse brings and prepare for the threats at this stage.

As a first step in preparing for the threat posed by the Metaverse, the Rand Corporation has ``comprehensively studied and evaluated the existing extensive psychological literature on the use and effects of VR, and investigated how VR can be used for malicious and manipulative purposes.'' 'Consider how it will be used.' It is necessary to explain the types of existing emotional manipulation techniques and investigate techniques that may be applied in the metaverse. As this type of research has not been conducted at the time of writing, it is pointed out that ``you cannot protect yourself from what you do not fully understand.''

The RAND Corporation also points out that there is a need to develop technology to detect when this type of emotional manipulation technique is being used. Specifically, it is recommended to create a character that detects emotional manipulation techniques in the Metaverse and alerts users to them.