Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta, has unveiled a slew of ambitious artificial-intelligence projects, calling AI “the key to unlocking the Metaverse.”
He used the AI feature Builder Bot to create a basic virtual world, complete with an island, trees, and a beach, in a livestreamed demonstration.
Mr. Zuckerberg also stated that he intends to develop a universal speech translator.
“The ability to communicate with anyone in any language is a superpower that was dreamt of forever,” he said.
Builder Bot was part of Meta’s CAIRaoke project to improve AI assistants and allow “AI to see the world from our experience” as people entered virtual reality via headsets or glasses, Mr Zuckerberg said.
Facebook has been investing in AI for the past ten years, and its head of AI, Yann LeCun, is one of the world’s leading experts.
It announced in January that it had begun work on a new AI supercomputer that, when completed in mid-2022, will be the fastest in the world.
Following revelations from whistleblower Frances Haugen, Facebook changed its corporate name to Meta in October.
Mr Zuckerberg spoke at the time of a vast Metaverse accessible via virtual reality headsets such as the Meta Quest, formerly Oculus, where people could work, play, and chat.
Meta also intends to hire 10,000 people in Europe to assist in the construction.
