Andrew Selepak, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Media Production, Management, and Technology instructional assistant professor, is the author of “Zuckerberg’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Metaverse is Beginning to Look Like a Bond Villain Dream” published on themessenger.com on Nov. 1.

Selepak focuses on an interview between Mark Zuckerberg and podcaster Lex Fridman in which the two interacted using photorealistic codec avatars and spatial audio in a virtual environment while wearing Meta Quest Pro virtual reality headsets. The interview looked lifelike when the avatars were replaced with actual faces.

“To accomplish this,” writes Selepak, “Zuckerberg and Fridman visited Meta facilities where their faces and expressions were scanned, creating biometric data that was then used for the interview with virtual versions of themselves. This technological development is more significant than the public may realize, and the implications of it can’t be overstated.”

According to Selepak, “This idea of using biometric data might be confusing but, essentially, it involves taking information about a person that is unique to them and converting it into ones and zeros (similar to how your smartphone can recognize you by your face or fingerprint).”

He writes, “So, why care about Zuckerberg’s virtual technology? Because Zuckerberg has set his sights on dominating the landscape of virtual reality, mixed reality, and AI. The technology is changing quicker than we realize, and Zuckerberg and Meta appear to be making significant strides to own and control the next way we communicate.”

Posted: November 3, 2023
Category: AI at CJC News, Alumni News, College News
Tagged as: Andrew Selpak, Artificial Intelligence, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, The Messenger