Catriona Campbell, a UK-based artificial intelligence expert, predicts that people could soon raise artificially intelligent virtual children inside the metaverse. In her new book "AI by Design: A Plan For Living With Artificial Intelligence," Campbell calls these hypothetical offspring "Tamagotchi children," referencing the popular virtual pets from the 1990s, according to The Telegraph.
Campbell argues that virtual babies could be an environmentally friendly and cheaper answer to overpopulation and limited resources. She told The Telegraph that virtual children could "solve some of today's most pressing issues, including overpopulation," but only if the phenomenon is "managed correctly." Her argument rests on the claim that a growing population is having devastating effects on the environment.
Projections and Counterpoints
Some recent projections predict that the world population will start dropping precipitously in the second half of the current century. That has led some observers, most notably SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, to argue that we should consider having more children to avoid a population crunch like the one looming over China. Additionally, some experts have suggested that thanks to technological advances, the environmental footprint of each additional child will drop significantly as time goes on.
Still, Campbell sounds convinced. She predicts that when the metaverse becomes a part of everyday life, we won't think twice about raising AI babies. "Virtual children may seem like a giant leap from where we are now," she writes in her book, "but within 50 years technology will have advanced to such an extent that babies which exist in the metaverse are indistinct from those in the real world."
Raising "Tamagotchi children" won't be entirely free, she told The Telegraph, but will be made "widely available for a relatively small monthly fee." It's a bold prediction, and whether an aging population would even be interested in raising virtual children inside a digital world remains an open question.
Editorial Notes