Artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse are not just the talk of the tech world, but the talk of the world at large.

And while AI is here and its capabilities expanding by the day, the metaverse has yet to be fully realized. But the former is undoubtedly helping build the latter, experts say — and moving forward, AI and the metaverse will continue to complement each other.

“There is this intersection between AI as a technique,” said Gartner director analyst Tuong Nguyen, “and the metaverse as an evolutionary state or era of the internet.”

How will the two evolve together? Experts weigh in.

Still a vision, but on the horizon

Statistics on the impending metaverse’s market size vary, but the consensus is that it will be huge — eventually a cornerstone of the economy. In fact, some estimate that the potential market opportunity or the total addressable market could be more than $1 trillion in yearly revenues.

As for now and the near future, Grand View Research put the global metaverse market size at $65.51 billion in 2022, and expects it to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.6% between 2023 and 2030. Markets and Markets similarly reported that the burgeoning industry surpassed $61.8 billion in 2022 and will show a CAGR of more than 47% to realize $426.9 billion by the end of 2027.

Along with this, the global augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) market size is expected to grow to $114.5 billion by 2027, representing a CAGR of more than 25%.

“The metaverse is the next evolution of the internet — hence it’s the future we all will live in,” Rolf Illenberger, managing director of VRdirect, an enterprise metaverse and VR platform that has worked with the likes of Porsche, Nestle and Siemens.

That said, “the metaverse is still a vision.”

However, Illenberger predicts: “The convergence of enabling technologies towards the metaverse will happen in the next few years and eventually be the new normal in 2030 (or thereabouts).”

AI in the metaverse: Limitless possibilities

So where does AI fit into all this? Nguyen offered a few use-cases.

For one, it will act as an interface, facilitating interaction with a system whether by voice, text or other input, he said. It can also be used to identify location based on visual cues.

For instance, getting relevant information on the weather. If you’re wearing a headset and asking “what’s the weather today?” the technology needs to be intuitive enough to know that you’re in northern California — not, say, France — and give you a location-specific forecast.

Also, ChatGPT and other generative AI tools can be used to create digital elements that are impossible to introduce by hand. Nguyen compared it to the early days of animated movies when illustrators painstakingly drew out each cell. AI, by contrast, could be fed the beginning or end of a cell, then fill in the blanks from there.

“AI has a lot of potential, something new is being discovered every day,” said Nguyen. “This is just like 40 years ago when people asked, ‘What's the internet going to be for?’ ‘I don't know, here are some examples.’”

Creating virtual worlds, customizing experiences, enhancing security

Notably, Illenberger sees AI being used in the creation of virtual worlds, objects and characters. For example, AI algorithms can generate realistic environments, creatures, and objects. This can reduce manual demands on human artists and designers.

“We’ve already seen how ChatGPT can be used for content creation, which is only scratching the surface as to how it could potentially operate within a metaverse environment,” he said.

AI algorithms can also analyze user behavior and preferences to create customized avatars or tailored recommendations for virtual experiences. Chatbots and voice assistants powered by natural language processing (NLP) can enhance communication and allow users to interact in a natural, intuitive way.

“While AI is not limited or tied to the metaverse, it can and will help deliver a more personalized and customized user experience within the metaverse,” said Illenberger.

This will most likely be in a similar fashion to how a web browser or cellphone can deliver content or functionality based on previous activity.

Also in terms of data analysis, AI can optimize experiences by examining user behavior, traffic patterns, and engagement levels. Metaverse-based companies can make data-driven decisions based on user needs and wants. Furthermore, AI may be used to detect and prevent malicious behavior (as it is doing in some applications now).

Evolution of immersiveness, interoperability

As Illenberger describes it, the metaverse will be characterized by a more intuitive, natural way of humans interacting with technology.

This will be based on two key evolutions: Immersiveness — or the ability to interact with the digital world with more input/output devices than just 2D screens via VR, AR, earpods, wearables and other tech — and interoperability, the smart connection between different digital services.

The latter will “free us from the need to log into hundreds of different apps to master our daily lives in a connected world,” he said.

What exists today are the enabling technologies of the metaverse: AI, VR, AR, blockchain, 5G and edge computing. Of all these, VR is most advanced and ready to be deployed at scale at enterprises, said Illenberger.

All relevant VR ecosystems will be available this year — Meta, Pico, HTC and the soon to be released Lenovo and Apple — and most enterprises will make a general decision as to which ecosystem they will use for large scale VR roll-out, he forecasted. This is also key for B2C adoption, he said, as most people will have their first encounter with VR within the workplace.

“AI is a very powerful technology and receiving a similar level of intrigue and interest from all of tech’s biggest players,” Illenberger pointed out. “Look at how quickly Google and Meta react when challenged by something they don’t already have in ChatGPT. It becomes all hands-on deck.”

Like the internet, the metaverse will evolve

VR is critical, Nguyen agreed, as users need a device to consume digital experiences. Still, the metaverse does and will continue to exist on a spectrum of devices. For instance, when tablets were introduced 10 some-odd years ago, we didn’t all throw out our phones or laptops; we simply used it as yet another medium.

In the same way, AI will be applied in many different applications, he said, and its intersection with the metaverse is important — but the metaverse isn’t going to be any single technology or trend.

For example, what if head-mounted displays never took off? The metaverse would still evolve — and via other interfaces — just as the internet has.

“The metaverse will evolve, trends will evolve, and as we put them together, we can create something bigger than the sum of their parts,” he said.

Ultimately, right now, it’s a matter of conjecture, as the metaverse and AI intersection “could be anything.”

“The best thing you can do is give people stepping stones, building blocks, to think about it a little more broadly,” said Nguyen. “It’s giving you an idea — but I don't know all the answers, and no one else knows all the answers, either.”