With recent advances in generative AI, there has been a lot of discussion about how it will be used in games, virtual worlds and the metaverse. So far, most of the focus has been on how we can speed up production pipelines, given how capital and labor-intensive many parts of…

Someday soon, we’ll speak entire universes into existence. This article is a guide to the companies building the generative artificial intelligence technology that will lead to these virtual worlds (games, simulations, metaverse applications). Existing market maps describing the landscape for generative AI lack a convincing organization, instead seeming to be…

In this article, I identify 9 megatrends — exponential shifts that are already underway on a global scale — and how they will shape the future of the metaverse. Most of the megatrends are a blend of both technology and social change. Here are the megatrends I’ll discuss: By looking…

Trillions of dollars: that’s how much private industry is investing into the metaverse. In this article, I provide a description of the value chain of this market, from the experiences that people seek out to the enabling technologies that make it possible. More importantly, I also provide a prescription —…

It will not replace the deep connection you feel with an old friend. It will not replace your sense of wonder upon learning something new, beholding the splendor of the cosmos. It will not replace the thrill of wrestling the trout from the waters as you stand hip-deep in the…

We are on the threshold of the most important change in productivity since harnessing fire allowed our hominid ancestors to eat better, spend a lot less time chewing, and gather enough nutrients to evolve bigger brains. Now, artificial intelligence is augmenting the power of our brains, and it seems that…

ChatGPT is not simply a chatbot — it can imagine entire virtual worlds using the power of its large language model (LLM). Using it, I discovered that I could recreate the experience of early text adventure games and multiuser dungeons. One of the classic genres of computer gaming is the…

A collaboration between a human, GPT-3 and Midjourney — an experiment in computational creativity, nonlinear narrative and generative art A Program to Take Over the World It all began when with an experiment to get GPTchat to respond in ways that it was often hesitant to. I had heard someone had gotten it to print the current…

Within a decade, an independent developer, working alone, will create a game with the size, scope and artistry of Elden Ring. And then a millions of other people will do the same thing. How is it possible that a single person will do the work of a team that cost…