"Just Say It, Islands and Palm Trees Appear" Zuckerberg Unveils AI Development Project for Metaverse

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] "Builderbot, let's go to the park. Hmm, shall we go to the beach this time? I wish there were some clouds in the sky. Please create an island over there too."

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, revealed on the 23rd (local time) that it is developing an artificial intelligence (AI) system that creates whatever is requested in the metaverse (extended virtual world). This technology is essential for the metaverse to become widespread and established as a global service in the future. The company plans to build an environment where users can easily communicate and work together in virtual spaces.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, introduced the AI concept called "Builderbot" during the live-streamed online event "Inside the Lab." He appeared as a 3D avatar in the metaverse and created a park and a beach in an empty virtual space with just a few words. Upon arriving at the beach, he added clouds and an island, and on the island where he stood, he created palm trees, picnic blankets, tables, audio devices, and drinks. This demonstrates that users can create their desired metaverse world with simple everyday expressions without going through complicated processes.

A virtual character resembling Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, is creating a beach in the metaverse (extended virtual world) using a demo version of the artificial intelligence (AI) 'BuilderBot'. (Photo by Meta, captured from YouTube)

(Photo by Meta YouTube capture)

(Photo by Meta YouTube capture)

CEO Zuckerberg said, "As we further develop this technology, you will be able to create sophisticated worlds where you can walk around and share experiences with others using only your voice." His vision is to enable anyone, anywhere, to easily share, create, and connect physically or virtually through the power of AI.

Meta also announced that it is developing an AI system called the "Universal Speech Translator," which can instantly translate spoken language. Previously, the company had built written translation systems, but now it aims to create an AI system capable of listening to and immediately interpreting over 100 languages in spoken form. Meta explained that billions of people worldwide face difficulties accessing information on the internet due to language barriers, and it is working to eliminate these barriers. By using the metaverse, people around the world will be able to work or hold meetings such as book clubs without language issues in real time.

Zuckerberg also revealed a project called "Karaoke," which is an AI research initiative to enable more natural conversations with AI voice assistants. He described Karaoke as an "end-to-end neural model that acts as a device-based assistant," allowing users to communicate more smoothly with AI via voice in the metaverse.

This announcement from Meta comes amid growing market skepticism about Meta's vision this year. CEO Zuckerberg renamed the company Meta last October and declared that Facebook would transform into a company developing and building the metaverse. However, after Meta's earnings report earlier this month, concerns have increased that the foundation of its existing social networking service (SNS) business is weakening and that the growth of the new metaverse business may be somewhat slow. Meta's stock price has fallen 41% since the beginning of the year and closed down 1.80% even after this announcement.

IT specialized media TechCrunch evaluated, "At this point, the world created by Builderbot is very simple both visually and functionally," adding, "It risks remaining at an early stage of virtual space construction and could become a playground for children."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.