You log into a virtual panel discussion. The room is full of lifelike avatars: a CEO you recognize from LinkedIn, a well-known researcher, a public official. They gesture, joke, disagree, and answer questions. At some point during the session, two of those people quietly swap bodies. The avatars stay where they are; the humans behind them trade places. You don’t notice.

That isn’t a thought experiment. It’s a real scenario, tested in a live Social-VR panel study. Researchers found that nearly 40% of attendees failed to detect that the person “inside” an avatar had changed mid‑conversation. In other words, a large chunk of the audience saw the wrong person in the right body and carried on as if nothing had happened.

The more our meetings move into XR, the more this kind of misalignment will matter. Who we think is in the room may diverge, quietly but systematically, from who is actually there. And as soon as Generative AI can inhabit those same bodies, the line between human presence, human performance, and synthetic participation becomes less obvious and more of a design choice.

This essay is the first part of a two‑piece series about what happens when identity, embodiment, and AI tech collide.

In this first article, I stay inside the virtual room: XR meetings, avatar realism, human identity swaps, and AI “panelists” that share the stage with us. I look at what recent studies are telling us about our ability, and frequent inability to tell who is actually behind the mask.

In the second article, “The Politics of AI Presence: How XR x AI Deepfakes Can Fool Us on Election Day”, I follow the same cognitive vulnerabilities into a different arena: Elections. If we already struggle to track identity and authenticity in immersive meetings, what happens when AI Deepfake tools and models trick are turned loose on the 2026 US Senate races and the Israeli elections?

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Can you tell when an unknown AI agent takes over your CEO's avatar?

Extended reality (XR in short) meetings are often sold as the next stage of digital collaboration: more immersive than video calls, more expressive than text chat, and more socially vivid than flat-screen conferencing. But the same qualities that make XR appealing also make it vulnerable. When identity is embodied in avatars, the meeting room no longer depends on a visible face or a stable camera feed. Instead, participants must infer who is present from posture, voice, timing, and interaction style.

That shift creates a new epistemic problem: in immersive environments, people are often worse at detecting identity swaps, synthetic agents, and other forms of deception than they assume. Recent research shows that this is not a marginal issue but a structural one, rooted in cognition, attention, and social bias.

The most striking recent evidence comes from Oliva et al. (2026)1, who examined impersonation and AI fakes in social virtual reality. In their study, two human panelists swapped avatars during a live social VR discussion while continuing to behave as their original selves. Nearly 40% of around 100 attendees failed to notice the swap. The finding is important not simply because it demonstrates deception, but because it reveals a broader phenomenon the authors describe as social identity change blindness:

Users may register the continuity of an avatar more strongly than the continuity of the person behind it.

That matters for XR meetings because avatar presence can become more psychologically sticky than identity itself. Once participants accept that a given body in virtual space belongs to a given person, they may discount subtle contradictions in voice, movement, or conversational style. 

In a conventional video call, identity remains tethered to the visible face, background, and platform interface. In XR, by contrast, those anchors are replaced by performance, design, and implied social coherence. A person who enters a meeting as one avatar and exits as another may remain undetected if the interaction remains fluid enough to preserve the illusion of continuity.

Why XR identity Detection Fails

The failure to detect identity swaps in XR is not only a technical failure; it is also a cognitive one. Humans do not process social environments as neutral observers. We rely on heuristics, shortcuts, and expectations to manage the sheer volume of sensory information available to us. In immersive environments, this reliance becomes even stronger because attention is divided across spatial cues, conversational demands, and embodied movement. The brain is busy maintaining a coherent scene, so identity verification takes a back seat to completing the task.

One major mechanism is change blindness. People often fail to notice changes in visual scenes when those changes occur during interruptions or distractions. XR creates ideal conditions for this failure because the environment is rich, dynamic, and cognitively demanding.

If the avatar remains visually plausible and conversationally stable, many users will assume the person behind it has not changed. That is not irrational so much as economical: the mind prefers continuity unless it has strong reason to revise its model.

A second mechanism is the Halo Effect. When an avatar appears polished, realistic, or professionally designed, users are more likely to infer competence, trustworthiness, and authenticity. That makes high-fidelity avatars especially powerful in meeting settings where social credibility matters. A highly refined avatar can serve as a trust signal, even if the person behind it is deceptive, compromised, or entirely synthetic. The more lifelike the avatar, the more difficult it becomes for audiences to maintain suspicion without explicit cues.

A third mechanism is Overconfidence. People consistently overestimate their ability to spot deception. That gap between subjective confidence and actual detection ability becomes dangerous in XR because it encourages complacency. Users may assume they would “obviously” notice a synthetic participant or a hidden identity swap. In contrast, empirical studies show that, under realistic conditions, they frequently do not.

Meet Alan Turing: Your AI Panelist

The Oliva et al. study (2026) included an AI panelist represented as Alan Turing and controlled by a large language model. Participants found the AI less realistic and somewhat distracting. Yet, the broader significance lies elsewhere: a synthetic agent could serve as a panelist in a live social VR conversation without immediately collapsing the social frame. That is an important threshold. It indicates that LLM-driven agents are no longer limited to chat windows or scripted assistants. They can enter shared spatial environments and participate as if they were members of the room.

That changes the nature of meeting deception. In older media, a fake participant was often obvious because it lacked timing, embodiment, or responsiveness. In XR, however, AI can inherit all three. A synthetic panelist can speak in turn, react to others, maintain conversational continuity, and even adopt a historically resonant persona.

The result is not simply a chatbot avatar in 3D space, but a new kind of social actor whose authority may derive from the performance of embodied presence rather than from verified human origin.

That possibility has major implications for political meetings, research panels, community forums, and corporate discussions. A panel of “experts” could contain hidden AI participants, impersonated humans, or hybrid arrangements in which a human operator and an AI system share control. If the audience cannot reliably detect the difference, then the legitimacy of deliberation itself comes into question. Meeting participants may believe they are witnessing spontaneous pluralism when, in fact, they are encountering curated or automated consensus.

Bias as an Attack Surface

XR deception works partly because it exploits predictable human bias. People infer identity from surface continuity, infer trust from visual realism, and infer sincerity from conversational fluency. Those heuristics are usually useful in ordinary social life, but they become liabilities when adversarial actors deliberately design for them.

In immersive systems, appearance is not a neutral shell; it is part of the persuasive infrastructure.

Research on AI-mediated interaction supports this concern. In a VR conversation study on alignment and modality, participants were willing to engage meaningfully with an AI agent regardless of whether it agreed with them. Still, their perceptions shifted depending on ideological alignment. When the AI’s stance matched their own, it seemed less biased and more strategically thoughtful. That is a classic confirmation-bias pattern: People are more forgiving of agents that appear to validate their beliefs.

That dynamic matters in XR meetings because AI panelists could be tuned to specific audiences. A synthetic participant can be made to sound reasonable, empathetic, or authoritative in ways that reinforce a preferred narrative.

In political contexts, such systems could simulate broad support for a position, mask coordination among insiders, or soften controversial views through a persuasive avatar. The threat is not only overt fake speech, but also subtle manipulation of what seems normal, reasonable, and socially shared.

Embodiment and Cognitive Load

The more immersive the environment, the more the user must split attention between presence and interpretation. That can raise cognitive load and degrade performance. Studies of mixed-reality meetings show that users adapt to avatar-based collaboration. Still, they also rely less on facial cues and more on voice and movement to infer emotional state. That shift makes interaction richer, but it also makes deception harder to detect because the system encourages distributed attention rather than skeptical inspection.

The same pattern appears in human-AI teamwork research. When participants believed they were collaborating with an AI teammate in an embodied task, performance suffered as task difficulty increased. Human teammates showed more corrective actions, less communication, and higher physiological arousal, suggesting that the presence of an AI collaborator can increase uncertainty, even when people subjectively feel comfortable with it. In other words, immersive collaboration may feel natural while still making people more prone to errors.

That is exactly the kind of environment in which identity swaps become difficult to spot. If a meeting already requires users to manage content, spatial orientation, and social turn-taking, then identity verification becomes one task too many. The result is not complete ignorance but partial monitoring: participants notice enough to feel engaged, but not enough to reconstruct who is actually behind each avatar. That is the cognitive basis for social identity change blindness.

Misuse and Deception

The misuse potential of XR identity systems is substantial. A bad actor could impersonate an executive, a public official, a journalist, or a trusted colleague using a realistic avatar and synthetic voice. Because social VR can feel more intimate than text or even video, manipulation may be especially effective in this context.

The setting itself provides social credibility: if a person appears in the same room, gestures naturally, and speaks responsively, audiences are more likely to assume legitimacy.

That is why deepfake security research increasingly treats VR and XR as high-risk environments. Survey work on Metaverse cybersecurity highlights threats such as avatar impersonation, AI-generated social engineering, and synthetic participants in real-time group settings.

The concern is not only that someone may steal an identity, but that the medium itself can make forged identities feel socially real enough to function in practice.

There is also a direct fraud angle. Identity theft in immersive systems can involve not only money but also access, reputation, and influence. An impersonated avatar can ask for confidential information, redirect a conversation, or engineer consensus in a deliberative setting. In a political or organizational meeting, this can distort decision-making without leaving obvious forensic traces. Because XR interaction is often ephemeral and embodied, the damage may occur long before verification catches up.

Ethical and Political Stakes

The ethical stakes are broader than fraud. If people cannot reliably know whether they are talking to a human, an AI, or a human-AI hybrid, then consent becomes harder to define. Participants in an XR meeting may agree to interact with a “person” without realizing that some speakers are synthetic or that identity has changed mid-session. That undermines basic norms of informed participation.

The political stakes are even larger. Social VR and XR may become venues for public deliberation, education, labor negotiation, and civic consultation. If those spaces are vulnerable to hidden AI panelists or swapped identities, then the legitimacy of collective judgment is weakened.

A meeting can look democratic while being partially automated, partially impersonated, or strategically staged. The result is an erosion of epistemic trust: people are no longer sure whether the voices they hear represent genuine pluralism or engineered appearance.

That is why Ramon Oliva and fellow researches study is so important. It provides a concrete empirical baseline for the argument that XR does not merely extend social interaction into a new medium; it alters the conditions under which identity is recognized and trusted. The nearly 40% failure rate in detecting the swap should be read not as an anomaly but as a warning.

If a live human swap can go unnoticed in a social VR panel, then AI impersonation will likely be harder still.

What Needs to Change

Mitigating these risks will require both technical and cultural interventions. On the technical side, platforms need stronger identity verification, provenance tools, and real checks that can distinguish live users from synthetic or replayed agents. On the interaction side, systems should make disclosure persistent and legible, especially when a participant is AI-driven or when control changes hands between human and machine.

On the cultural side, users need better training in perceptual skepticism. That does not mean assuming that all avatars are fake. Still, it does mean abandoning the assumption that realism equals authenticity. In immersive environments, trust should be earned through verified provenance, not visual polish.

Participants should be able to ask not only “Who does this avatar look like?” but “Who is operating it, under what conditions, and with what accountability?”

The deeper lesson is that XR meetings are not just a new communication interface. They are a new social epistemology. They change what people notice, what they ignore, and what they are willing to believe. As AI panelists become more fluent and avatars become more convincing, the challenge will not simply be preventing deception; it will be preserving the shared reality on which meaningful collaboration depends.

Till next time,

✨Mega-Play Your Life.

Dr. Elhanan Gazit

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Note: The complete references list of this essay will be featured in Dr. Gazit’s forthcoming book: Gameful Intelligence™: The Art of Thriving in the Era of AI. JuLoot Publication House. (Tentative, due: late 2026).

Disclaimer:

Any references to public figures are used for commentary, criticism, education, and analysis and do not imply endorsement or affiliation. All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Read the full Disclaimer, Copyrights, Trademark & AI Disclosure » here

On International Women’s Day, Fei‑Fei Li exemplifies what I call Gameful Intelligence™ (GI), a new kind of intelligence for the AI‑first world that acts as both compass and strategy for thriving in the era of AI.

In this article, we’ll follow Fei‑Fei Li’s path from immigrant teen to “godmother of AI,” look at how she changed the field and widened access, see why she earns a place in the Gameful Intelligence™ Hall of Fame, and use my Dr. GIA AI assistant’s insights to help you find ideas for your own next steps in an AI‑first world.

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Fei‑Fei Li immigrated to New Jersey as a teenager, speaking little English and helping her parents run their dry‑cleaning shop after school. Those early days, shaped by the immigrant experience, became the bedrock of her character.

Fast forward: Fei‑Fei Li has become one of the world’s most influential AI leaders, a Stanford professor, co-director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, and is often referred to as “godmother of artificial intelligence.”

How Fei-Fei Li l Changed the Rules of Computer Vision.

As a Stanford PhD student and later professor, Fei-Fei Li looked beyond routine progress in computer vision, exemplifying Artisanship by rethinking the field’s foundations. She posed a central question:

If machines are to ‘see’ the world, why not give them extensive visual experiences, as humans do?

That question inspired her approach: with collaborators, Dr. Li built ImageNet, a meticulously organized dataset of over 14 million images, setting a new global standard after years of rigorous work.

In 2012, AlexNet, trained on ImageNet, made a breakthrough: top-5 image classification error rates dropped from 26% to 16%. This leap triggered new possibilities, making ImageNet essential for advances in medical imaging, autonomous vehicles, face recognition, and more.

Fei‑Fei Li re-imagined the field itself, exemplifying JuLoot, the capability to read and redesign the rules of the game, spotting shifts, and turning disruption into advantage, by reshaping the game rather than just its tools.

From Lab to Lobby: Opening the AI Game to More Players

Fei‑Fei Li recognized the risks in her field: AI datasets reflect the biases of their creators. She urges us all to examine our data sources for hidden assumptions or misrepresented groups before building models. A moment’s reflection can move AI toward fairness and inclusion.

She founded AI4ALL, a nonprofit that introduces high-school students, especially girls and underrepresented minorities, to AI through camps, mentoring, and research to build a diverse creator community.

Mega‑Agency in an AI‑Saturated World

Through the perspective of Gameful Intelligence, the AI revolution can be analyzed across time. Dr. Fei-Fei Li embodies Mega-Agency as a catalyst changing global AI through leadership, innovation, and a vision beyond herself. Dr. Li not only shapes her own path but also actively guides AI development to benefit society.

Consider how you might apply Mega-Agency in your upcoming projects. Draw from Fei‑Fei Li’s journey to inspire deliberate, impactful actions in your field.

Dr. GIA Agent Analysis

Curious about Fei-Fei Li’s Gameful Intelligence Level, I used my Dr.GIA app to measure her four key capabilities. The resulting spider chart was nearly perfect: each axis, Mega-Agency, Co-Creativity and Creation, Artisanship, and JuLoot, almost maxed out, forming a striking symmetry from bold leadership to inventive rule-bending.

(Mega‑Agency: 95%. Co‑Creativity & Creation: 90%. Artisanship: 97%. JuLoot: 95%.)

These scores do more than quantify her life: they trace her path from folding shirts in a laundry to leading and diversifying the world of AI.

My Dr. GIA, the “Gameful Intelligence Agent” summarized:

Dr. Li is not just a pioneering researcher; she is the architect of the dataset. The analysis reveals a rare blend of Mega-Agency and Artisanship: Fei-Fei Li transformed the raw infrastructure of AI, millions of labeled images, and benchmarks into a foundation for global progress. Through ImageNet and AI4ALL, she channels personal artisanship into lasting change, reaching from the lab into the lives of a new generation of AI creators.

Dr. Li’s commitment to ethical progress in AI has been recognized at the highest levels. In her 2018 testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, she stated:

As a scientist, I firmly believe that AI must develop under human guidance and oversight, with fairness, transparency, and accountability as guiding principles.

Since 2017, AI4ALL has introduced thousands of high school students from historically underrepresented groups to AI education and mentorship, with over 80 percent of participants identifying as women or students of color. These tangible outcomes highlight how Li’s vision extends beyond technical achievement to building a more diverse and responsible AI community.

Ultimately, Fei-Fei Li’s journey, especially as celebrated on International Women’s Day, demonstrates the power of Gameful Intelligence to convert adversity into mastery, while also nurturing openness and inclusion in AI.

With her story as inspiration, consider how you might discover and develop your own Gameful Intelligence. Start » Here

What is the GI “Hall of Fame” ?

The Gameful Intelligence Hall of Fame (GIHoF in short) is a curated gallery of people, companies, and brands that demonstrate exceptional levels of Gameful Intelligence in the real world. They have developed one or more of the four core GI capabilities to an outstanding degree, reached a personal or professional peak, and continue to grow and adapt in the age of AI.

Which epic story would you add to the Hall of Fame?

Nominate a person, team, or organization whose journey inspires you, and together, let’s grow this community of gameful thinkers and doers.

For readers new to these concepts, Gameful Intelligence

Gameful Intelligence, as I define it, is a four-core capabilities approach for mastering the AI-First World. It’s the ability to treat major challenges like a strategy game by quickly adapting (Mega-Agency), using resources creatively (Co-Creativity and Creation), mastering your craft (Artisanship), and anticipating or redesigning rules (JuLoot). This combination helps you thrive amid rapid change.

Till next time,

✨Mega-Play Your Life.

Elhanan

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Note: The complete GI Hall of Fame list and references will be featured in Dr. Gazit’s forthcoming book: Gameful Intelligence™: The Art of Thriving in the Era of AI. JuLoot Publication House. (Tentative, due: October 2026).

Disclaimer:

Any references to public figures are used for commentary, criticism, education, and analysis and do not imply endorsement or affiliation. All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Read the full Disclaimer, Copyrights, Trademark & AI Disclosure » here

Most people think they’re good with AI.

Almost no one actually measures it.

I developed Dr.GIA Compass, an AI self-assessment powered by my Gameful Intelligence™ (GI) approach, to elevate your AI-First World readiness.

It measures your capabilities across four GI dimensions:

⚡ Mega Agency |  Co-Creativity & Creation | 🏆 Artisanship | 🏴☠️JuLoot

Then it turns your results into practical actions you can apply immediately.

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🧠Dr.GIA Compass Major Update Drop 🚀

In the past 48 hours, while air sirens sounded after recent events in Iran, I rebuilt and improved much of my Base44 app.

Here’s what’s new:

🎭 8 Roles. Your Journey, Your Path.

Executive · Entrepreneur · Creator · Marketer · Educator · Parent · Therapist · Student

With questions and insights customized for your role, you receive actionable recommendations that build on your strengths and address your specific needs, making development feel personal and practical.

📋 Rebuilt Question Bank

The assessment now uses new, research-based questions to focus on the four Gameful Intelligence skills. This helps you see where you do well and where you can grow.

🔓 New Assessment Tiers

GI Spark | GI Compass | GI Mastery (coming soon)*

🎯 Hyper-Personalized Results

Receive AI-generated insights, tool suggestions, and a weekly action plan customized to your role and score, ensuring you get practical steps you can act on right away for measurable progress.

🎨 Manifesto-Inspired Achievement Badges

Each level unlocks a unique AI image inspired by my Gameful Intelligence Manifesto, visually marking your progress, reinforcing your personal identity, and fostering a deeper connection to the GI mission.

💡 Role-Tailored Inspirational Quotes

After finishing, you get a quote from a famous thinker picked for your role. It encourages growth and a new perspective at each stage.

🔐 Ethics & Privacy First

I used Grok AI to make a system with strict rules: we require consent and transparency, do not allow negative language, include neurodiversity, store no personal data, and only admins can view the analytics dashboard.

📊 Redesigned Results UX Flow

The Radar Chart shows your GI strengths. You also get your GI Profile, a weekly action plan, an achievement badge, and a quote. All are designed for a smooth, motivating experience.

One seamless narrative.

🚫 Do NOT take this GI assessment.

Seriously.

Unless you are ready to discover your true standing in the AI era.

Take the Dr.GIA assessment now and actively level up your Gameful Intelligence. Step forward and challenge the status quo.

If you're curious about your real position in the AI era, seize this chance to discover what you can achieve.

Lead the way. Log in now and start sharpening your Gameful Intelligence before others do. Don’t just watch from the sidelines—take action today.

Find out your GI score. In the AI era, being average is a choice. Choose to rise above.

Still here?

Excellent. Stat leading the AI Game NOW! https://drgia.base44.app/home

Keep Calm and Vibe Coding.

Elhanan Gazit

March, 2026

Vibe Coding Co-Creator: Nir Gazit

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💬 Got thoughts, questions, or reflections? Share in comments:

Where did you first encounter a technology that seemed like science fiction, and which is now part of our lives?

read every message.

Do you want to explore how the Gameful Intelligence™ approach could apply to your enterprise, your team, your accelerator, or your next project?

Connect with me on LinkedIn or here.

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Disclaimer, Copyrights, Trademark & AI Disclosure » here

*Dr.GIA app is based on Dr. Elhanan Gazit’s forthcoming book: Gameful Intelligence™: The Art of Thriving in the Age of AI. Publisher: JuLoot Publishing House. Estimated launch date: October 2026.

TL; DR

Nostalgia, often dismissed as mere sentimentality, can quietly become a catalyst for personal growth. Rather than simply revisiting old memories, I find myself wondering: what if these fragments of the past could be interlaced within the fabric of our present ambitions? Sharing our stories is not just an exercise in nostalgia; it can open unexpected doors, spark new collaborations, and deepen the sense of meaning in our work.

In a world that seems to accelerate with each passing year, nostalgia offers more than comfort. It becomes a lens via which we can discern patterns and lessons otherwise lost in the noise. Some of the most enduring innovations arise not from chasing the new, but from returning to disregarded ideas, quietly waiting in the archives of our collective memory. The rediscovery of a forgotten feature, for instance, can sometimes spark a transformation that no amount of forward-looking analysis could predict.

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Let’s dive in:

Like many others, my friend Alice recently felt compelled to share her old 2016 photos on social media. What drives so many to revisit and repost old content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram?

The answer to this #2016memories trend lies in our search for meaning and momentum from the past. Recent social media analytics indicate that the hashtag #2016memories saw a 150% increase in usage over the past month, highlighting the strong emotional pull of this trend.

It is not random.

Perhaps our minds long for the clarity of days before the world became so entangled with algorithms and uncertainty. Nostalgia is not simply a retreat; it is a subtle re calibration, a way for the mind to restore coherence amid fragmentation.

Neuroscientists tell us that our brains are wired to replay moments of joy rather than failure, and while algorithms may amplify this tendency, the deeper truth is our enduring search for meaning in a world that regularly feels disjointed.

When revisiting your digital memories, consider not only what you miss but also which strengths or values from that time you can apply to current challenges.

That is not “social engineering.”

Do not confuse Platforms’ FOMO-driven reward loops with sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies’s 1905 blueprint for systematic societal redesign through data and public policy. True social engineering exploits vulnerabilities for targeted gain, such as phishing to steal passwords or access. Trends primarily focus on boosting platform metrics.

Algorithms amplify nostalgia through leveraging rosy retrospection and the brain’s natural fondness for positive memories. This is an emergent phenomenon rather than a deliberate manipulation. Content from 2016 receives significantly more views by engaging shared memory networks, self-reflection, and emotional centers. While platforms encourage this behavior, your instincts also play a key role.

If we look closely, the past is not a closed chapter but a reservoir of inspiration. By revisiting what once seemed finished, we are able to uncover threads worth incorporating into new forms. This act of recombination, drawing from dormant memories or forgotten projects can breathe life into ideas that feel both recognized and entirely new, inviting us to innovate not by discarding the old, but by reinventing it.

Myth-busting: Is there a ‘nostalgia gland’ in your brain? No. That’s as real as a six-pack of wishful thinking.

Nostalgia is less a single note and more a composition—emotion, memory, and reward working in concert to bring forth a sense of belonging. There is no isolated center for nostalgia, only subtle interaction. Perhaps the lesson is to curate our own archives of achievement, much as an athlete draws strength from past victories. By recording our successes and nurturing habits that our future selves will cherish, we transform memory into momentum.

A practical step emerges from this reflection: recall three moments of genuine accomplishment. What thread connects them? What lesson quietly persists?

Tomorrow, let that insight guide your response to a present challenge. In this way, nostalgia becomes not a retreat, but an anchor between who we were and who we are becoming.

Discussing past successes with your team or peers can be valuable. Research indicates that collective reflection can generate new ideas and improve group performance. To delve even deeper, ask your teammates, “What past win still energizes you?” This question can help cultivate psychological safety and lead to richer idea flow within your team.

Let nostalgia also serve as a map, pointing to relationships and mentors who shaped your journey. Reaching out to these figures can rekindle common purpose and open new paths for growth.

Challenge:

Reflection alone is not enough; growth is a process of continual iteration. Imagine revisiting a photograph from a past project and recalling a moment when a team truly came together. What if that memory became the seed for a new approach today? By experimenting, observing, and adapting, we allow the lessons of the past to inform the evolution of our present, turning nostalgia into a living hypothesis for progress.

Consider how the choices you make now will one day become the memories you return to. Each action is a step in the story you will someday tell yourself.

Ask: How can you use your past to gain a competitive edge today?

Invite others into this reflection. Ask a friend or colleague: what do you hope your future self shall remember about today? In sharing these hopes, you may discover new ambitions or shared directions.

If you lead a team, encourage members to share stories of overcoming past challenges. Collective nostalgia can support a growth mindset and help groups adapt to change.

Don’t just play, master the game.

Organizations, too, can benefit from making introspection a ritual. By regularly sharing accounts of past challenges and lessons, leaders can help embed a culture where memory informs strategy. A simple practice, such as beginning meetings with a story of a past turning point can transform reflection from an afterthought into a source of collective wisdom.

Algorithms nudge, but you steer.

What you do using nostalgia, how you transform feeling into forward motion, matters most. To anchor this action, I challenge you to contact one dormant contact in the next 24 hours. This small step can transform reflection into substantial progress.

Nostalgia empowers when you act on it.

- Dr. Elhanan Gazit

To be open to the past is not to be trapped by it. Those who thrive use nostalgia as a springboard, not a shelter-gathering energy from memory to reach new heights.

Revive the moments that shape a life of meaning. Imagine yourself in 2036, looking back with thankfulness for the step you took today. What message would your future-self send to you now? Let this imagined note become a calm promise to begin.

What is your 2016?

What will your 2036 self-thank you for starting today?

Picture yourself in 2036, coffee held in hand, surveying the landscape of your life. The projects completed, the relationships deepened, the growth hard-won. Let this vision of your future self guide your choices now, each step anchored in the story you are still writing.

Meta-Play Your Life!

Elhanan Gazit

January, 2026

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Where did you first encounter a technology that seemed like science fiction, and which is now part of our lives?

read every message.

Do you want to explore how the Gameful Intelligence™ approach could apply to your enterprise, your team, your accelerator, or your next project?

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Disclaimer, Copyrights, Trademark & AI Disclosure » here

*Adapted from Dr. Elhanan Gazit’s forthcoming book: Gameful Intelligence™: The Art of Thriving in the Age of AI. Publisher: JuLoot Publishing House.
Estimated launch date: October 2026.

2026 marks a profound shift from the early experimental phase of AI avatars to their widespread adoption and integration into daily life. While the developments of 2010 laid the groundwork, the present era demonstrates how rapidly these technologies have evolved and embedded themselves across digital and social environments. To illustrate this shift, consider that the number of active AI avatars in use has grown exponentially, from just a few thousand in 2010 to over 10 million in 2026. This dramatic increase not only underscores the pace of technological advancement but also highlights the increasingly central role AI avatars play in shaping contemporary human experience.

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Introduction

In 2010, algorithm-driven avatars operated with limited autonomy. According to Wikipedia, Genies introduced advanced avatar creation tools for celebrities and talent agencies in 2025. By 2026, avatars have evolved into genuine collaborators.

AI avatars have become essential collaborators, fundamentally changing the relationship between humans and digital agents. This shift is more than a technological upgrade; it redefines how we integrate digital counterparts into society. With capabilities doubling every 18 months, AI avatars now perceive, understand, and interact with users more effectively. As active partners, they are transforming how we live, work, and create, reflecting the unprecedented pace and scope of change in this era.

AI was once mainly for gamers and tech fans, but now anyone with internet and a smartphone can use it. According to IoT Analytics, the number of connected IoT devices worldwide is expected to reach about 40 billion by 2030, up from around 16.6 billion in 2023. Combined with nearly 4 billion 5G smartphones equipped with AI capabilities and a data-centre infrastructure in which roughly 70 per cent of capacity is optimised for AI workloads, it is reasonable to say that by 2030, AI will be embedded in the vast majority of connected devices. This means that nearly everyone worldwide has access to AI in their pockets through their smartphones. These tools are everywhere, changing our world faster than ever. For instance, a farmer in Kenya uses AI-driven weather alerts to better plan crop irrigation, highlighting the global reach of this technology.

Adapting to the age of AI can feel overwhelming. However, engaging with AI now significantly increases your ability to achieve personal, creative, and business objectives.

Delaying engagement with AI may result in missed opportunities or falling behind.

2010: The Beginning

Sixteen years ago, I took the stage at IBM’s R&D by the University of Haifa to introduce PIVOE AI avatars for training in Second Life. The next day, following the “Synthetic Reality: The Science and Applications of Virtual, Mixed, and Augmented Reality” IBM Symposium, I found myself driving up Sha’ar Hagai on the way to “The Laboratory” a National TV show in Jerusalem. The platform I presented, PIVOTE Avatar, was among the first to let people use and manage AI avatars, also called bots, on both computers and mobile devices. Developed by Daden Limited in the UK, it aimed to put trainees in tough situations, create different scenarios, and help them get better at making decisions under stress.

The metaverse was in its infancy at the time. Building such avatars was costly and complex, with development taking weeks and costing thousands of dollars.

It looked futuristic. It sounded like science fiction. But in those days, it was the best we could develop.

According to Biz4Group and Computer Graphics World, developing an AI avatar in 2010 typically cost between $10,000 and $30,000 and took weeks of complex work. Teams and Skype meetings became routine, employees on global projects spent nearly 17 hours a week in meetings, yet most people still thought this was strange, even confusing. Back then, these avatars acted like puppets, following a fixed list of actions and reactions. They used simple rules like ‘if-then branching,’ so their responses were limited to what programmers set up.

To illustrate this shift more vividly, consider the changes in coding over time. In 2010, a sample code might have looked like this:

‘if (user_input == “greet”) {

print(”Hello, user!”);

}’

This straightforward snippet shows how avatars were locked into static, pre-programmed responses. Fast forward to 2026, coding snippets for AI avatars have transformed dramatically, embracing machine learning capabilities:

‘model.train(data)

prediction = model.predict(user_input)

response = NLP.process(prediction)’

This exemplifies not only the evolution of code complexity but also the integration of AI’s learning capabilities, allowing avatars to interpret a far wider range of human inputs and provide nuanced responses at a fraction of the cost and time.

I led a training workshop for senior executives using avatars in a 3D virtual world. The concept was so new that it often met with scepticism; executives even asked, “Is this really going to be profitable?” Senior CEOs told me, “It’s like Science Fiction for us.” A friend said more than once, “I don’t really understand what you’re doing.” Their doubts were clear, since virtual avatars were so new and untested, and their value was unproven. This only made me more determined to demonstrate the technology’s value.

And BOOM! 16 years just gone by.

1# AI Avatars 2026

Fast forward to 2026: AI avatars and agents are now everywhere. Evolved dramatically, they can detect emotional cues, suggest actions in real time, and generate personalised content. A customer service AI, for example, can sense frustration in a client’s voice and adjust its responses for empathy and reassurance. Yet, interpreting human emotion remains challenging, and missteps can lead to awkward or ineffective interactions, raising new social and ethical questions.

Now, every influencer or brand, even in adult entertainment, can have an AI persona, showing just how far the technology has come. Genies now partners with Unity to offer customizable AI avatars in the Unity Asset Store. According to Amplework, developing an AI agent today can cost between $10,000 and $100,000, but the technology is more accessible than ever. My son and I built an AI agent model for less than 100 NIS.

Time: 1 hour of vibe coding in our living room.

What once took weeks and a fortune now takes an hour and pocket change. In 2010, developing an AI avatar typically cost between $10,000 and $30,000. Today, the cost has plummeted to just $25. This stark contrast highlights the democratisation of AI technology, making powerful tools accessible to almost everyone.

When considered together, these two moments, spanning sixteen years, highlight the extraordinary scale and impact of technological transformation. It’s as if we’ve watched a time-lapse film of technology’s rapid evolution, revealing massive shifts that, even when experienced firsthand, can be difficult to fully comprehend. This vivid imagery encapsulates how deeply these changes have reshaped every part of life.

The best way to understand this shift is to reflect on your own memories.

When did you first meet AI? Was it in a game, on your phone, or with a digital assistant?

Think back to your first encounter with AI. Was it during a game, on a smartphone, or through a digital assistant? Maybe it subtly changed your perspective. This isn’t just about reminiscing; it’s an opportunity to make the digital revolution personal and envision how your digital companion might shape your future.

Next stop: 2# Phone

In 2010, smartphones like the iPhone 4—with 16 GB of storage, a 5-megapixel camera, and Angry Birds—were cutting-edge but still just tools. By 2026, phones will be AI-powered partners that know our routines, anticipate our needs, and connect deeply with our daily lives.

3# TV

In 2010, TV meant scheduled events—if you missed “Breaking Bad,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “American Idol,” or, in Israel, “Eretz Nehederet” and “Big Brother,” you missed out. By 2026, AI will deliver personalised on-demand shows with unprecedented precision, exemplified by one revolutionary show that changes the landscape: “Future Visions,” created entirely by AI. This series adapts to viewers’ preferences in real time, offering a unique experience for each user. TV is now individualised, with Netflix AI and even friends or family generating new series using AI Studio tools like Runway, Kling, and Google’s Veo.

4# Hollywood

In 2010, going to the movies meant long lines at Cinema City, a ticket to “Avatar,” popcorn, and the magic of Spielberg or Cameron on the big screen. By 2026, AR glasses and AI will let anyone enjoy, remix, or even create films at home—James Cameron’s “Avatar 3” will share the stage with new indie creators and algorithm-driven stories.

#6 Economy

In 2010, ExxonMobil and other oil giants topped the Forbes list—wealth meant physical resources and deep wells. In 2026, companies like NVIDIA, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and OpenAI are the new economic powerhouses, with value driven by data, algorithms, and cloud infrastructure. The rise of tech and AI has changed how we work, what skills matter, and even how countries compete. To keep up, we all need to adapt, learn to work with AI, and update our skills for a rapidly shifting world.

#7 Video Games, Mobile & Toys

In 2010, video games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, World of Warcraft, The Sims 3, and StarCraft II were static: Buy a CD, insert it into your gaming PC or console, and play. By 2026, streaming AI-powered games will be available on your console, PC, or mobile device. AI tools create evolving, real-time challenges and virtual worlds that remember your choices. You can advance levels with your avatar on any platform.

Mobile games in 2010, like Angry Birds and Doodle Jump, were simple distractions. Now, mobile games adapt to our habits, connect us with friends, and build skills for a changing world. On the downside, predatory monetisation tactics are the new normal. AI-based Gamblification (Games+Gambling) drives more risky, addictive behaviours. This shift raises important questions: Should there be regulations to curb such monetisation methods? What ethical responsibilities do developers have to protect users from addictive patterns? Addressing these societal stakes invites a crucial conversation about balancing innovation with consumer welfare.

Toys in 2010 were digital novelties: Webkinz and Club Penguin offered simple rules and limited interactions. By 2026, AI toys feel alive: they know your name, remember your history, and invent new activities, making every play session unique.

Understanding the Broader Impact of AI Avatars

This section brings together the main idea: AI avatars and related tech have gone from isolated inventions to changing daily life. By looking at how AI first appeared in entertainment, especially video games, and then spread to other areas, I show that using AI has helped us get ready for constant change. This journey with AI in entertainment prepares us for a tech-driven future and highlights the need for Gameful Intelligence, a new way of thinking that helps people handle complex, fast-changing systems.

Most of us first met AI in video games, not at work or school. From PAC-MAN to Fortnite, we learned to handle changing systems, pick things up as we played, make quick choices, and adapt to new rules, essentially preparing us for our future engagement with AI-driven environments.

What many people thought was just entertainment, or even a waste of time, has actually been a training ground. It’s where we learned to understand complex systems, handle stress, and keep going without all the answers. It’s no surprise that video games are now leading the way in the AI era.

The important question here is not what technology can do, but what intelligence we need to realize our potential and lead. That’s why I coined Gameful Intelligence™. It means being able to learn, adapt, and come up with new ideas by being playful, trying things out, and solving problems in changing situations. This new intelligence is characterized by four main abilities: the ability to perceive patterns in complex systems, the flexibility to adjust plans in response to new information, the creativity to devise innovative solutions in the face of uncertainty, and the willingness to take action through small, strategic steps.

Here’s an example: an urban planner, a game developer, a teacher, and a community leader work together to solve city traffic problems. They use Gameful Intelligence by spotting patterns in traffic, testing small changes, adjusting plans based on feedback, and coming up with creative ideas such as encouraging biking. By combining their skills and playful thinking, they make the city better. This shows that Gameful Intelligence isn’t just a set of skills, it’s a new way of thinking that helps people handle constant change. It gives us a framework for learning, adapting, and being creative in today’s world.

It is not just about technical knowledge or skills anymore, but about having an approach that fits a world that is always changing.

Vibe Coding

Gameful Intelligence is a way to reach your potential in the age of AI. It’s made up of four main abilities that anyone can develop. But what does this look like in real life? For example, I’m sitting in the living room with my son, and we’re building an AI agent called Dr GIAi together.

We went for Vibe Coding. We’re working on building creativity and creative skills with AI. We try different approaches and prompts to get better results. We change how we phrase things, test different AI systems and tools, and keep improving our methods.

Gameful Intelligence’s Mega-Distruptive Crafting capabilities - Check!

Our goal is to become expert creators who make unique, high-quality products. The agent, based on my book about game intelligence, will be able to talk with you, figure out your level of game intelligence, and give you a score for each of the four main abilities. It will also offer personalized tips and advice based on your interests to help you reach your goals.

For example, imagine a brief interaction: ‘User: How can I improve my mega disruptive JuLoot capabilities?’ Dr.GIAi: ‘Based on your current level, try engaging in a non-formal meeting, in a “hacker mindset” that challenges your disruptive skills. Here’s a recommendation you might find beneficial.’ This dialogue snippet illustrates the real-time feedback loop in action. Early testers have shared their experiences, with one user exclaiming, ‘Whoa, it nailed my blind spot!’

This kind of human reaction underscores the prototype’s practical value and promise.

Coda

When I watch my son try new things, ask questions, and not worry about making mistakes, I think back to when I was developing avatars in 2010. Technology has changed a lot since then, but curiosity and creative freedom are still key to personal growth. These traits are at the heart of this essay: Gameful Intelligence™ is essential for thriving in the age of AI. The skills I learned from early avatar work still help us adapt and succeed as technology continues to change.

I feel hopeful that the future will be better. By cultivating Gameful Intelligence™, we can become our best selves.

It has been quite a journey, from the ‘alien’ avatars of 2010

to the AI agents of 2026,

And in the future, we will continue to shape it together.

I was there at first.

And now, we are all writing the next chapter together.

Everything is open now.

“Roll up your sleeves so as not to be left behind.” Andrei Karpati1.

Elhanan Gazit

January, 2026

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Where did you first encounter a technology that seemed like science fiction, and which is now part of our lives?

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“Excuse me… are you Dr. Gazit?” one asked. “We saw you on Channel 10, the new economic channel.” In that surreal place, the conversation turned to my work on Gameful Intelligence™. I thought to myself, this is the perfect setting. A glacier is a powerful metaphor for our time. It is a world that appears solid but is constantly in motion. Hidden crevasses, deep sudden fractures lie beneath the surface. This landscape of majestic power and hidden peril is precisely the terrain we are all now navigating in the age of Artificial Intelligence. How do you cross it without falling behind?

Watch the video above to learn how to lead with the Gameful Intelligence™ compass in a disruptive world.

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1. The Ground is Moving Faster Than You Think

Grasping the unprecedented speed of AI adoption is of paramount strategic importance. Much like traversing a glacier that appears stable yet moves imperceptibly beneath one’s feet, the current technological shift is unfolding with a dramatically compressed timeline for adaptation, unlike previous revolutions that evolved over decades. This acceleration does not represent a gradual trend but rather signals a fundamental change in the rhythm of business and professional development, akin to navigating a glacier where the ground shifts rapidly and unpredictably, demanding immediate attention and a re-calibrated strategic response.

An analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis quantifies this extraordinary pace. The adoption rate of Generative AI has reached an astonishing 39.4% in the same time-frame it took the internet to achieve a comparable level of penetration. This makes the current wave of AI adoption nearly twice as fast as one of the most transformative technologies in modern history. This statistic is more than a data point; it is evidence of a seismic shift, and the first cracks are already appearing in the form of mass layoffs at tech companies, such as Microsoft’s gaming division, where the very tools being developed are reshaping the workforce.

This rapid, widespread adoption creates tangible risks for entire professions, opening up vulnerabilities that were purely theoretical just a few years ago.

2. The Crevasses Are Real: Identifying AI Vulnerability

This rapid technological shift is creating a landscape of clear winners and losers. For professionals who fail to recognize the changing ground, the risk of becoming obsolete is no longer a distant threat but an imminent danger. The key to survival and success is to first identify where the greatest vulnerabilities and the deepest crevasses lie.

According to an analysis based on Microsoft Research (Ding et al., 2023), professional vulnerability can be mapped by plotting a role’s “AI Applicability” against its “Human Exposure to System Change.” The findings are stark. Occupations in the highest-risk quadrant are not limited to one or two fields; they span the core of the knowledge economy. For example, consider the case of translators: recent advances in large language models have enabled AI systems like Google Translate and ChatGPT to produce near-instant, high-quality translations for dozens of languages, reducing the demand for human translators in many commercial contexts (Ding et al., 2023). Similarly, editors now contend with automated grammar and style correction tools that can perform substantial portions of editing work, challenging the traditional demand for these skills in publishing. In contrast, professions such as “Firefighters,“ which rely heavily on physical presence and decision-making in unpredictable environments, have significantly lower AI applicability and are therefore less exposed for now.

The direct consequence of this vulnerability is that for millions of knowledge workers, AI is fundamentally shifting the very ground beneath their professional lives, much as a glacier’s slow yet relentless movement alters the surrounding landscape in ways that are difficult to predict. Here, the glacier serves as a metaphor for the technological environment: what seems solid and familiar can change unexpectedly, creating unseen risks. This moment does not signify the end of work, but rather a profound transformation of work across many established fields. The essential question, therefore, is how professionals can identify and avoid the metaphorical crevasses—those hidden dangers of obsolescence—and learn to traverse the ever-evolving paths of this ‘glacier,’ thereby shifting from a position of vulnerability to one of strategic advantage.

3. A New Compass for Thriving in the era of AI

Just as traversing a glacier requires more than physical endurance and demands a fundamentally different approach to navigation, successfully operating in the unpredictable environment of the AI era calls for more than acquiring new skills. Professionals must adopt a new mental model for success that parallels the careful and adaptive strategies used to cross a shifting, hazardous landscape. This process involves formulating a fundamental strategic framework, not simply to withstand technological disruption, but to harness its transformative potential. The central element of this approach is cultivating a form of intelligence specifically suited to the unique challenges and opportunities of the current era.

This approach, coined by Dr. Gazit, is called Gameful Intelligence™ (GI) and comprises four “mega-capabilities”—broad, foundational skills that collectively enable individuals and organizations to lead effectively in an AI-driven world. For example, Mega-Agency facilitates the adoption of AI-driven decision-making in business management, while Mega Co-Creativity & Creation enables professionals to collaborate with AI to develop innovative products, as seen in media industries that use generative AI for content creation. Mega Distributed Crafting is exemplified by technology teams that integrate diverse digital tools to maintain high standards across global projects, and Mega Disruptive JuLoot can be observed in entrepreneurs who identify unconventional market niches through data analysis powered by AI. These mega-capabilities serve as a compass for navigating the glacier, helping you see the path ahead, avoid dangers, and move with confidence and purpose.

The core pillars of Gameful Intelligence™ provide a toolkit for turning disruption into opportunity:

• Mega-Agency: This is the enhanced autonomy and control to realize your personal and business potential. It means mastering AI tools, agents, and digital twins to amplify your influence, shifting your mindset from being a passenger in your career to becoming the primary driver of your success.

  We wrote our insights on digital twins in Oct, 2022.

• Co-Creativity & Creation: Increased creativity and creation ability with AI tools and platforms in conjunction with other people. AI serves not only as a “side-by-side” helper but also as a full partner in developing new creative ideas and creating products and services that were not possible before.

• Artisanship: Refers to the sustained effort required to achieve expertise in one’s field, particularly by consistently producing both physical and digital products or services at an exceptional standard. This process involves collaborating with diverse AI tools and leveraging distributed resources. It requires critical thinking and the maintenance of high standards, emphasizing uncompromising quality. Distributed Artisans actively reject the production of superficial or generic outputs—commonly labeled as ‘AI Slop’—which sacrifice long-term value for the sake of quick and easy gains enabled by artificial intelligence.

• JuLoot: The capacity to identify and seize new, unconventional opportunities by disrupting and changing the rules of the game. A portmanteau of Juex (French for “game”) and “Loot,” this skill involves spotting the “secret doors” and pathways to value that others miss. It fosters a greater impact on your surroundings, from local to national and even global levels. As you move towards reaching a state of “God mode” like in video games, before competitors even understand the shift..

These four core capabilities are the essential for the journey ahead, enabling you to confidently cross the glacier while others remain frozen in place.

Watch Now: Your Guide to Crossing the Glacier

In summary, the Gameful Intelligence™ approach serves as a strategic guide for effectively navigating the rapidly evolving, uncertain landscape of the AI era. By integrating mega-agency, mega co-creativity and creation, mega distributed crafting, and mega disruptive JuLoot, this framework equips individuals and organizations to anticipate technological disruptions, avoid professional vulnerabilities, and proactively identify new opportunities for growth. Together, these core concepts function as essential steps for succeeding in the face of unprecedented change.

The supporting videos and posts offer further detail on how to cultivate these capabilities, emphasizing their practical implications for achieving resilience and leadership in an increasingly complex environment.

💬 Say hi.

Got thoughts, questions, or reflections on this piece?

Do you want to explore how the Gameful Intelligence™ approach could apply to your organization, your team, your accelerator, or your next project? say hi

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Mega-Play Your Life

Dr. Elhanan Gazit

Founder at Juloot

Originally posted on the juloot.co.il blog.

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Copyright, Trademark & AI Disclosure:
© Dr. Elhanan Gazit. Gameful Intelligence™ is a trademark of Dr. Elhanan Gazit. All original design, methodology, and editorial content in this newsletter are reserved. Some visual, audio, and analytical elements may be generated or assisted by AI tools (including a proprietary AI agent) under the author’s direction and editorial review. Any references to public figures are used for commentary, criticism, education, and analysis and do not imply endorsement or affiliation. All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. AI tools are used transparently and with attention to applicable laws and platform policies.

I was standing near the Arc de Triumph when I saw it happen — a moment so small it could've been missed entirely, and yet it captured the whole point.

A 14-year-old boy looked up from his phone, eyes wide. He had just scored. Not in a game as we once knew it, but inside a layer of augmented reality engineered by Nike. Two girls beside him scanned a floating Nike icon hovering over the monument. One whispered, "Let's find the next one." The other raised her phone, captured the scene, and tagged it: #MyVictoryMode.

They weren't influencers. They weren't even traditional customers. But in that moment, they were athletes, explorers, and players — part of a narrative Nike had written not just around them but with them. No purchases were made, but something of far greater value was exchanged. They left with a memory, an emotion, and a new idea of who they could be — and who Nike helped them become.

That is no longer advertising. It's something closer to authorship. It's where augmented reality intersects with identity, loyalty, and the redefinition of what it means to belong — not just to a brand but to a story.

I Saw the Future of Loyalty on a Sidewalk in Paris

Paris, in the summer of 2024, was an unlikely arena. The Olympic Games had returned, but the city hadn't changed its rules. Just nine percent of Paris is available for play. No courts. There are few open areas. There is very little infrastructure that invites young people to gather, move, or compete.

Where most brands would have seen limitations, Nike saw an opportunity for transformation. Not through a product launch but through a narrative system: an extended reality campaign called Victory Mode. Using Snapchat AR Lenses and live events, Nike turned the city itself into a playable field. Monuments became mission points. Streets became scoreboards. Teens became performers in a town that had historically excluded them from its design.

And the results weren't just metrics. They were memories, authored in real-time, and co-owned by the users who played through them. That's where the new game is being played — not on screens or in stores, but in emotional space. In how we design identity, how we provoke action, and how we build meaning in an age defined by synthetic Intelligence and disappearing friction.

What AR Can Do (When You Let People Lead)

To understand what Nike accomplished — and what is now available to every strategist, creator, or product leader seriously thinking about immersive experiences — we need a model that tracks not only usage but also emotional depth. That model is HARBE: Holistic Augmented Reality Brand Equity.

The HARBE Model, introduced in 2025 by Lambrecht, Baumgarth, and Henseler1, builds upon Keller's foundational brand equity pyramid with a critical update. It adds what traditional brand frameworks have long overlooked: the user's lived emotional reality inside the experience. It captures the transition from awareness to relation by asking not what the brand said but what the user felt — in the moment, through the medium, and afterward in memory.

The model hinges on perception and evaluation. Not impressions, not dwell time — but how an experience is perceived emotionally and how it is judged in context. When perception and evaluation align, something changes. The user doesn't just see the brand — they connect with it, attach to it, and even defend it.

That's what happened in Paris. The campaign shifted Nike's role from product to enabler. The interface wasn't an app. It was a portal. Teens navigated citywide quests, discovered hidden challenges, scanned floating artifacts, and received live performance feedback. The streets spoke to them. The monuments played with them. The brand listened and responded. That's not storytelling. That's story building — with the user cast as the protagonist.

And here's what matters most: it worked not because the technology was flashy but because the experience was human. It was felt. The mechanics were simple: wayfinding overlays, gamified leaderboards, and city-based challenges. But the emotional stack was complex. Through HARBE's lens, you can see how Nike activated all four layers of brand equity: from salience to meaning, response to relation.

Yet HARBE alone doesn't tell us how to create these systems. It gives us a diagnostic. What's needed is a creative compass — something that guides the crafting of emotional equity from the inside out. That's where Gameful Intelligence comes in.

Gameful Intelligence is not gamification. It doesn't ask you to add points to a product or call your users "players." It asks something deeper: What would change if you designed for human agency, not user engagement? What becomes possible when you position the individual not as a recipient of your brand story but as its co-author?

In Paris, Nike operationalized five components from the GI model — and it's these that turned a technical activation into a narrative transformation.

The first was the Agency. Players were free to decide where to go, how to compete, and what to unlock. These weren't linear missions. They were open systems of navigation, rewarding personal choice, and ownership of the journey. The second was Being — not abstractly, but through Augmented Identities. Teens who had no sanctioned space to play found themselves layered into a new role: urban athletes, real-time competitors, and explorers of a city now responsive to them.

Most critically, Nike handed over the Hero's role, not to their own brand mascot or marketing spokesperson, but to the user. The leaderboard didn't gamify their behavior. It mythologized it. Every step, every scan, and every point scored reinforced the story: You are the main character here.

The campaign also invited creative expression. Though not a multiplayer game, it became socially performative. Teens captured selfies mid-quest, shared their scores, and celebrated their routes. They posted, tagged, boasted, and remembered. Their city became a co-authored highlight reel — not of consumption, but of play.

Finally, and perhaps most strategically, Nike embedded the concept of Juloot — the convergence of play and loot. Except here, the loot wasn't a discount code or digital token. It was emotional capital. It was recognition, elevation, and the sense that performance in a designed space could lead to status in the real one.

In the AI era, where personalization is instantaneous and attention is fragmented, it's easy to mistake speed for strategy. But what Victory Mode teaches us is the opposite. Loyalty isn't earned through velocity. It's earned through designed pause — through moments that create meaning, provoke reflection, and reward identity construction.

That is why the return on engagement now surpasses the return on investment. ROE is measured in actions taken without a script, paths followed without reward, and time spent inside an experience that feels authored rather than prescribed. It's the trust signal of the AI age. It tells us not just that users showed up but that they changed in the process.

So the question becomes: How are we designing that change?

What system, framework, or lens are we using to ask the only question that matters now — not "did the feature work," but "did the story land?"

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You Don't Win Loyalty. You Build It

HARBE gives us the emotional pyramid. Gameful Intelligence gives us the mechanics of elevation. Together, they offer something strategy has long lacked: a way to build systems of emotional equity at scale without losing soul, intention, or meaning.

If you're a strategist, product builder, or brand leader reading this — you're not launching features anymore. You're shaping futures. The best immersive systems in the next five years won't be the most advanced. They'll be the most emotionally coherent. The ones that feel authored by the user, not imposed by the brand.

Start there. Ask: What kind of person does this experience allow someone to become?

If the answer isn't different than who they were before — you haven't built a system. You've shipped a novelty.

Victory Mode reminds us that loyalty isn't a state. It's a transformation. And when designed well, it's a shared one.

New on the GI Podcast:

If this sparked something — a thought, a tension, an idea you want to shape — I explore these themes further on the GI podcast. In Episode 90 (my AI Co-Hosts and I) talk about "Hero Mode Activated.” In Episode 88, we (my AI Co-Hosts and I) examine power and agency in the AI era through the lens of Palmer Luckey's Anduril x Meta's latest Defense Tech disruption.

Apple | Spotify | Amazon | YouTube | Podbean | Podchaser | BoomPlay

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Got thoughts, questions, or reflections on this piece?

Do you want to explore how the Gameful Intelligence approach could apply to your organization, your team, your accelerator — or your next project? say hi

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Or connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.

- Until next play

Dr. Elhanan Gazit, PhD Founder at Juloot

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From restaurants serving up digital emotions to machines harvesting silence, these predictions aren't just wild – they're a window into how AI imagines our shared future. And plot twist: turns out AI has some pretty interesting things to say about itself when you let it take the mic.

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Featured in my upcoming book "The Gaming Generation Plus: How Video Games, Metaverse, and AI Are Shaping Our Lives" (2025), this episode explores how gaming culture, the metaverse, and artificial intelligence are rewiring our reality. Spoiler alert: the future's going to be wilder than we thought.

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- Elhanan Gazit.

Produced by juloot and NotebookLM. For transcripts and participation in upcoming episodes, slide into our DMs.

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Sci-Fi Meets Reality

Two decades ago, I delivered a keynote note talk titled "Movies and Video Games: Mirror Representations between Science Fiction and Real Innovative Technologies" at the 2nd Annual Science & Technology Conference of LAMDA - National Center for Teaching Science and Technology in Elementary Schools, Tel-Aviv University. I opened with a quote and a question:

One often hears the phrase, "a picture is worth a thousand words," but have you ever wondered how many words a sci-fi movie is worth?

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This question invites us to consider the profound impact of visual storytelling on our perception of the future. Science fiction films like Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey entertain and predict technological advancements. They challenge us to envision the future and assess how closely our present reality aligns with these visionary concepts.

Today, technologies once confined to science fiction are gradually becoming part of our everyday lives, driving innovation and personal growth and offering a promising future.

Reid Hoffman and His AI Twin: A Glimpse into the Future of AI

Imagine sitting down for a conversation with an AI version of yourself, a concept known as a 'digital twin.' Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, did that in a groundbreaking interview with his AI-generated twin, ReidAI. Titled "Reid Hoffman Talks to Reid Hoffman About Reid Hoffman," this interaction transcends technological novelty to offer deep insights into AI's potential.

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ReidAI wasn't merely a chatbot; it mirrored Hoffman's personality, thoughts, and humor, showcasing generative AI's capacity to replicate human intricacies. This development heralds a future where AI could enhance personal and professional growth by serving as a reflective, interactive mirror.

Picture executives are consulting their AI counterparts for strategic decisions or individuals engaging with digital twins to refine their goals. Such advancements could revolutionize mentoring, decision-making, and emotional support, providing unprecedented clarity and insight.

Credit: Reid Hoffman

Read more about the rise of digital twins 

AI Companionship: From Fiction to Reality

The 2013 movie 'Her,' directed by Spike Jonze, features Scarlett Johansson as the voice of Samantha, an advanced AI operating system. The film portrays a future where AI evolves from a mere assistant to a deeply empathetic entity, forming an emotional bond with Theodore, the protagonist. Johansson's portrayal highlighted AI's potential to offer companionship and emotional support.

While 'Her' is fictional, it foreshadows our evolving relationship with AI. Today's virtual assistants are becoming more intuitive, hinting at a future where they provide personalized and emotionally intelligent interactions. These AI companions, also known as 'emotional companions,' could address loneliness and mental health challenges, offering meaningful connections for those in need. In professional settings, emotionally aware AI could enhance teamwork by understanding and adapting to human dynamics, fostering a more harmonious and productive environment.

Ethical Dilemmas: Scarlett Johansson and AI Consent

In a real-world twist, Scarlett Johansson was embroiled in an ethical debate when her likeness was used without consent in AI-generated content, sparking a feud with OpenAI. This controversy underscores the urgent need for ethical frameworks and regulations in AI development.

Credit: SNL

As generative AI becomes more powerful, the potential for misuse grows, raising concerns about privacy, consent, and the authenticity of digital content. For example, generative AI has led to the development of deepfake technology, which can produce highly realistic yet fabricated videos. That has sparked concerns regarding the reliability of digital content. Scarlett Johansson's situation underscores the necessity of protecting individuals' rights in an era where digital likenesses can be easily replicated and manipulated. It's crucial to understand these ethical implications and work towards developing AI to respect privacy, ensure consent, and maintain the authenticity of digital content.

Coda

As we combine science fiction and reality through generative AI, we are profoundly reshaping our world. From conversations with AI counterparts and empathetic AI companions to ethical discussions and future projections, the experiences of Reid Hoffman and Scarlett Johansson underscore this technology's vast potential and obstacles. As we step into this promising frontier, we must balance innovation with ethical considerations. Addressing these moral issues is not just important; it's our duty to ensure the responsible development of AI that respects privacy and authenticity. Through this, we can ensure that the future of generative AI enriches human existence while safeguarding our core rights and principles. The future is promising, and we are only just beginning.

As we stride into this bold new world of AI, let's heed Arthur C. Clarke's words:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

This quote reminds us that as AI advances, it may seem like magic. Still, it's crucial to understand its underlying principles and implications. Let's confidently embrace this magic and let it steer us toward a future where technology and humanity thrive together.

💫 Think Fast, Level Up Smart.

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If you liked it, please share it with a friend who might benefit from it. I welcome your comments and suggestions below, especially on the ethical considerations of AI. What are your thoughts on the ethical challenges we face as AI becomes more advanced? How do you think we can ensure the responsible development and use of AI?

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Imagine a virtual boardroom where your global team's holograms collaborate in real time. Picture clients experiencing your product demos as if they were there in person, no matter where they are. Envision training sessions that immerse employees in lifelike scenarios, boosting their skills and decision-making.

This is the power of immersive tech, reshaping how we work, learn, and interact. Last week, we explored the first five pillars. Today, let's dive into the next five that will redefine our digital reality. Ready to transform your world? Let's get started.

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6. Inspire Movement: Dynamic Motion.

Movement is not just a physical act; it's a liberation. In immersive technologies, dynamic motion transforms static environments into kinetic adventures, fueling exhilaration and exploration. It's about teleporting across realms and soaring through skies, empowering users to shape their digital journeys.

Case Study: VR Exercise Platform, Supernatural

Supernatural is an immersive VR fitness platform that transforms static workout routines into dynamic, exhilarating experiences. Users can teleport to breathtaking environments and perform a variety of movements like squatting, lunging, and swinging, making exercise feel like an adventurous journey. Thus, it embodies the essence of dynamic motion and movement liberation in eHealth and fitness.

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7. Explore Augmented Identities: Beyond Self.

Imagine stepping into diverse roles, from mythic heroes to digital phantoms. Immersive experiences expand our sense of identity, fostering empathy and personal growth. This journey of self-discovery creates deep emotional connections, transforming the user experience.

Case Study: Coca-Cola Zero 007 Skyfall Campaign

The Coca-Cola Zero 007 Skyfall gamful campaign is a prime example of exploring augmented identities as it allowed participants to step into the shoes of James Bond, completing exciting missions in a train station, thereby expanding their sense of identity and creating a deeply engaging and memorable experience that connects with their inner hero.

Case Study: "The Sims 5"

"The Sims 5" offers deep engagement through augmented identities. It allows players to create and control characters in a simulated environment, enhancing their connection and investment in their role.

8. Foster Co-Creation and Socialization

The richest experiences are shared. The immersive design encourages co-creation and social interaction, turning solitary adventures into communal journeys. Socialization amplifies engagement and emotional resonance. Enhancing the richness of the experience through co-creation and user-generated content deepens the user's engagement and investment in the immersive experience over time.

Case Study: Nextworld on Roblox 

Nextworld on Roblox exemplifies co-creation and socialization by inviting players into a shared virtual world for collaboration and exploration. Users interact with favorite characters, collect limited-edition items, and engage in communal activities, transforming solitary gaming into a shared journey. This social aspect amplifies engagement and creates memorable experiences.

Case Study: Yale Medicine Virtual Reality 

Yale Medicine's VR creates a supportive environment for young cancer patients by offering a virtual space for teens to connect, share experiences, and co-create interactions. Participants can choose avatars, interact, and express themselves, bridging the gap between physical isolation and social connection. The collaborative aspect enhances engagement, helping teens navigate challenges, share coping strategies, and find solace in a community that understands their unique situation.

9. Maintain Clarity: Transparent Interaction

Clarity is the backbone of immersive design. Ensure that what users see is what they get. Eliminate interaction ambiguity to create a seamless, intuitive experience where intentions translate directly into actions. Studies have shown that AR/XR and Spatial Computing eradicate cognitive dissonance in contexts like purchase-related decisions. They align user expectations with their actual experiences, thus influencing intentions to buy or willingness to invest in products and services.

Case study: Decorify

Decorify, the 16th Annual Shorty Awards Artificial Intelligence category winner, allows users to see how furniture looks in their space before purchasing, aligning expectations with reality.

10. Integrate Playful Affordances: Play as Engagement.

Playfulness invites curiosity and experimentation, transforming users from passive observers into active participants. Playful affordances encourage meaningful interactions, fostering deeper engagement and creativity.

Coca-Cola's Dancing Vending Machine in Korea turns a simple drink retrieval into a fun game, captivating users through playful interaction and making the experience memorable.

Nintendo Labo's DIY cardboard kits foster creativity and ownership. Users build their controllers. The playful affordance lies in the physical kits, inviting exploration and experimentation. By combining playfulness with learning, Nintendo Labo engages users beyond traditional gaming.

Both examples use playful elements to enhance engagement and transform users from passive observers into active participants.

The 10 Pillars of Immersive Experiences Design Recap

The Future of Immersive Experiences

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.- Steve Jobs.

Immersive technologies are not merely tools but essential to the future, revolutionizing how we learn, work, and play. By embracing these ten design pillars, we create experiences that engage, inspire, and transform. Consider how these technologies can be applied in your field to revolutionize your work.

The benefits of immersive technologies are clear: they enhance engagement, foster empathy, and create deeply personal experiences. As we stand on the brink of this digital revolution, embracing these technologies is crucial. They are gateways to new possibilities, unprecedentedly driving personal and business growth.

Steve Jobs's vision inspires us to innovate. By focusing on how each of the pillars of immersive experience design works at every level, we can craft epic experiences beyond imagination. That is the essence of immersive design—the ability to create worlds that inspire, engage, and transform us.

💫 Mega-Play Your Life.

Elhanan

PS

That is part of my upcoming book, entitled:

Gazit, E. (in preparation). Gameful Intelligence™: The art of thriving in the AI era. Becoming irreplaceable in a world of change. Gazit Publishing House.

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If you liked it, please share it with a friend who might benefit from it. I welcome your comments and suggestions below. You can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Imagine a realm where the ordinary bounds of time and space are mere suggestions, a digital landscape where reality bends to your will. That is not science fiction; it's the cutting-edge field of immersive experience design. Here, we harness the power of AR, VR, XR, and spatial computing to create worlds that fully engage your senses, transporting you to places you've only dreamed of. These experiences can transform how we interact with brands, sparking curiosity and pushing the boundaries of what we thought was possible in digital marketing and beyond.

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What exactly are Affordances?

An affordance is what a user can do with an object based on the user's capabilities. In essence, an affordance is an action possibility in the relationship between a user and an object.1

"When affordances are taken advantage of, the user knows what to do just by looking: no picture, label, or instruction needed." - Don Norman, the Grandfather of User Experience, Co-founder and principal, Nielsen Norman Group.

What do we mean by 'affordances' in Emerging Technologies? 

Immersive affordances are novel opportunities that emerging technologies represent, allowing us to engage with and manipulate virtual objects/ worlds naturally and intuitively.

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The 10 Pillars of Immersive Experiences Design:

1. Bend Time and Space: Re-imagine Reality.

2. Create Presence: Craft the Now.

3. Empower Users and Places: Agency Unleashed.

4. Transform Size and Scale: Alter Perception.

5. Shift Vision: Perspective Play.

6. Inspire Movement: Dynamic Motion.

7. Explore Augmented Identities: Beyond Self.

8. Foster Co-Creation and Socialization.

9. Maintain Clarity: Transparent Interaction.

10. Integrate Playful Affordances: Play as Engagement.

In this post, we delve into the first five pillars that form the foundation of crafting engaging, and immersive experiences:

1. Bend Time and Space: Re-imagine Reality.

Time and space are the ultimate canvases. Stretch, compress, and twist them to create a temporal and spatial dance that defies conventional boundaries, making users question the very fabric of their existence. Spatial affordances also allow users to teleport instantly, eliminating physical boundaries and enabling exploration of expansive digital terrains and phygital objects.

Ask yourself: How can manipulating time and Space enhance narrative engagement? 

"Dear Angelica" is a VR film created by Oculus Story Studio that allows viewers to experience memories non-linearly. The film's narrative jumps through time, creating an immersive and emotionally engaging experience that manipulates the viewer's perception of time and space.

2. Create Presence: Craft the Now.

The essence of immersion is presence. Build experiences that anchor users so profoundly in the moment that the outside world fades away. Every detail, every sound, every interaction should resonate with authenticity, pulling them into a vivid now. Enhancing presence tricks users into believing they are fully present in the story and contributes to bonding with the brand.

Ask yourself: How does enhancing the user's Presence impact their immersive experience? 

Accenture's VR training enhances new hires' sense of Presence and engagement by immersing them in the company culture and work environment before their first day.

3. Empower Users and Places: Agency Unleashed.

Users are not mere spectators; they are co-authors of the narrative. Empower them with meaningful choices and design environments that respond and adapt. Every decision should ripple through the experience, making the world and its inhabitants feel alive.

Ask: How does enhancing the user and place agency impact their experience?

Walmart's VR Training for Black Friday allows employees to practice handling intense shopping scenarios by simulating time and space, which helps them prepare effectively without real-time pressures.

4. Transform Size and Scale: Alter Perception.

Play with dimensions to surprise and delight. Shrink users to the size of ants or expand them to the scale of giants. Transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, making every change in size a gateway to new perspectives and emotions.

Altering the Relative Size of the object or the user’s avatar offers the user new perspectives and ways to interact with virtual elements. Scale affordances enable the magnification or reduction of objects, promoting creative thinking and problem-solving within the digital space.

Ask: How does changing scale alter the user perception and experience? 

The Gillette Stadium Takeover XR campaign by Gillette Labs effectively harnessed the principle of altering size and scale to create a WOW effect. By transforming the stadium during Monday Night Football using mixed reality, they showcased a colossal Gillette razor, captivating fans and offering a fresh perspective on the stadium’s renovation and cutting-edge razor technology. 

"The Body VR: Journey Inside a Cell” is an educational VR experience that takes users on a journey inside the human body at a microscopic level. By altering the scale, users can see and interact with cells and biological processes in a way that is not possible in real life, providing a new perspective on human biology.

5. Shift Vision: Perspective Play.

Manipulate points of view and frames of reference to challenge the ordinary. Let users see through a bird's eye or a microscopic camera's lens. Shifting perspectives can reveal hidden layers and unexpected connections, enriching the narrative.That offers users fresh perspectives that challenge their assumptions and spark discoveries. That can lead to deeper engagement and a heightened sense of immersion.can lead to deeper engagement and a heightened sense of immersion.

Ask yourself: What new perspectives do varying points of view offer users?

Kellogg's VR marketing research shifts the perspective to observe consumer behavior in a virtual store, providing valuable insights into product placement and customer preferences.

The above examples demonstrate the power of immersive design in elevating entertainment, digital marketing, and corporate training while also enhancing employee performance and providing deep market insights. By harnessing the essential elements of immersive design, brands, and organizations are developing compelling training modules and research projects.

In my upcoming post, we'll delve into the remaining five pillars of immersive design.

Keep at the forefront of Metaverse, Gaming, AI, and Digital Innovation developments. If you're excited about shaping the future with cutting-edge technology and keen to delve into the vast potential of immersive tech, join us and subscribe now to the MetaYeda newsletter.

💫 Mega-Play Your Life.

Elhanan

ps

That is part of my upcoming book, entitled:

Gazit, E. (in preparation). Gameful Intelligence™: The art of thriving in the AI era. Becoming irreplaceable in a world of change. Gazit Publishing House.

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If you liked it, please share it with a friend who might benefit from it. I welcome your comments and suggestions below. You can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

Leave a comment

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By highlighting the power of gaming in shaping historical memory, we can empower gamers to understand their role in preserving historical narratives. Video games have emerged as potent mediums for storytelling, particularly in representing significant events like the Holocaust. That underscores the influential role of gaming in shaping historical consciousness.

All Wars: A Triptych of Battlefields

Viet Thanh Nguyen2 eloquently stated in his non-fiction book 'Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (2016): "All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory." 

Expanding on Nguyen's profound insight, I argue that gaming shapes historical memory. Thus, I propose amending Nguyen's statement: 

"All wars are fought three times: the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory, and the third time in video games."

Video games like "Call of Duty" and "Battlefield" construct narratives that affect how we perceive historical events. However, their focus on combat may overshadow broader historical contexts. This influence extends beyond individual gamers, potentially shaping societal perceptions and policies.

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Unveiling the Secrets of War Video Games Ludology

Various stakeholders, including developers, gamers, and regulators, interact to shape the narrative of historical events in games. Fan communities and modders further contribute to this discourse, sometimes challenging established narratives.

However, there's a delicate balance between historical accuracy and engaging gameplay. Gaming companies often prioritize commercial success over historical fidelity, leading to debates over representation, as seen in games like "Enemy Front." 

Moreover, game developers avoid the horrors of war. The brutality, trauma, and human suffering inherent in conflicts are often toned down or abstracted to make games enjoyable. They use selective realism filters that distort our perception of war, emphasizing action and heroism over the grim reality.

There are game creators who bear the responsibility of handling historical content with care, as demonstrated by games like "The Light in the Darkness," which confronts the Holocaust directly. 

Navigating the Post-Truth AI Era

Now, overlay this triptych with the post-truth AI era. History, once inscribed by ink and memory, now dances with algorithms. Machines sift through archives, curate narratives, and present them to a global audience. But the truth is elusive. AI, while powerful, lacks conscience. It churns out information, sometimes factual, sometimes distorted. As society grapples with this digital deluge, we must wield our critical eye as a compass.

In integrating HaRav Kook's wisdom, we acknowledge the need to understand and harness gaming's influence for positive educational purposes. By doing so, we honor the past, shape the present, and influence the future, ensuring that the memory of the Holocaust is preserved with integrity and reverence.

Furthermore, we, as parents, play a vital role in mediating the impact of video games on our children. By facilitating thoughtful discussions and fostering critical thinking, we can ensure that our children engage with gaming content responsibly, thus preserving the legacy of the Holocaust with the solemnity it deserves.

"To forget would not only be dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time. For in the end, it is all about memory, its sources and magnitude, and, of course, its consequences"—Elie Wiesel3.

Let's take action together and ensure that history lessons are remembered. Together, we can amplify our impact. Let's commit to engaging with gaming and immersive technologies in a way that honors the past and shapes the future. Responsible engagement with these tools is urgent to preserve historical memory. How can we use these tools responsibly? Share your thoughts in the comments below. 

💫 Think Fast, Level Up Smart.

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Thank you for reading this newsletter. If you liked it, please share it with a friend who might benefit from it. I welcome your comments and suggestions below. You can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

"On Saturday, Iran attacked the State of Israel with 350 different launches. That was stopped, and Iran failed in its attack. It was stopped thanks to capabilities built up in the State of Israel over the years in the defense industries. It was stopped thanks to a historic air defense battle that will be studied extensively around the world. A defense battle in which Israeli Air Force pilots downed swarms of aircraft," - IDF spokesman Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, at the Israel Hayom "Tomorrow's Conference," The International Convention Center, Ashkelon, Israel, April 16, 2024. 

From where I recall reading and watching air and space battles against attacking swarms?

Twenty years ago, as a Ph.D. student, I researched how 3D virtual reality Solar systems impact the learning of astronomical phenomena. I was captivated by the brilliance of American author Orson Scott Card's Sci-Fi novel Ender's Game (1985). It was an anchor for thinking and analyzing real-time micro-learning interactions in the complex system's vast 3D virtual reality environment—the Solar System. I did not imagine that the epic Sci-Fi space battles in Ender's Game fantasies would one day edge closer to reality.

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Now, I can bore you (it's not dull) with studies and research findings about video games, defense tech, and combat skills, like this: Research conducted at Georgia State University on the cognitive benefits of gaming, particularly in decision-making tasks. The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). They discovered that video game players exhibit increased brain activity in regions responsible for visuomotor processing. Furthermore, gamers demonstrate faster and more accurate decision-making abilities compared to non-gamers. These findings underscore the potential of gaming as a training tool for future military leaders.

Moreover, I can link the historical defense battle to the 1984 United States Strategic Defense Initiative, led by former President Ronald Reagan (RIP), often called the "Star Wars" program, designed to defend against such formidable aerial threats. 

But I don't.

Instead, I challenged my AI Copilot. Enjoy.

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"Throughout history, storytellers and futurists can see deep into human nature and technology far beyond the average populace. They always have. This is why movies are so interesting to us." - Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast, Head of US Air Education and Training Command

Elhanan PROMPT: "Write a fictional short story about "The Next Israeli Air & Space Force Major General is A Ten-Year-Old Gamer Girl."

Copilot: 

The Next Israeli Air & Space Force Major General is A Ten-Year-Old Gamer Girl

The Guardians of the Horizon: A Tale of Valor and Virtuality

In 2044, the Israeli Air Force and Space Force unveiled a revolutionary program that blurred the lines between virtuality and reality. Project Horizon was a spatial computing immersive video game designed to recruit, sort, and train the most promising young minds for duty in the skies and beyond.

The game Guardians of the Horizon was a masterpiece of technology and storytelling, inspired by the classic novel Ender's Game. It was set in a world where strategy, skill, and courage were not just valued but essential for survival.

Among the players was Yael, a ten-year-old girl with a fierce intellect and a passion for the stars. She lived in a small town in the Negev Desert, where the night sky was a canvas of constellations and possibilities. Yael had always dreamed of flying, of breaking free from the confines of gravity and soaring into the cosmos.

"Guardians of the Horizon" gave her that chance.

The game was a secret testing ground, its levels designed to challenge the players' cognitive abilities, reflexes, and decision-making skills. Yael excelled in the game, her avatar dancing through digital dogfights and commanding fleets with a natural ease that belied her age.

But the game was more than it seemed. The top players who demonstrated exceptional talent were invited to join an elite training program. Yael received her invitation on a warm summer evening, and the message appeared on her screen like a beacon of destiny.

She was whisked away to a hidden facility, where reality surpassed the most vivid of her virtual experiences. Here, she met other children like her—gifted, determined, and ready to embrace their roles as the new defenders of the nation.

The training was rigorous. The children learned to pilot drones, advanced to high-speed jets, and finally to spacecraft capable of breaching the atmosphere. They trained in simulators that replicated the harshest space conditions, pushing their bodies and minds to the limits.

Yael rose to the challenge. She became a leader among her peers, and her strategic insights and unshakeable resolve earned her the respect of both the instructors and her fellow cadets.

Then, the day came when the game became a reality. 

A rogue nation had launched a series of satellites equipped with weapons that threatened global security. The Israeli Air Force and Space Force needed a new kind of warrior—someone who could navigate the perils of space and neutralize the threat.

Yael and her squadron were deployed. They donned their suits, the fabric of which is interwoven with sensors and life-support systems, and climbed into their spacecraft. The engines roared to life and shot into the sky, leaving fire trails in their wake.

The battle was unlike any simulation. The enemy's satellites armed with AI-controlled defenses adapted to their every move. But Yael was undaunted. She had faced countless challenges in "Guardians of the Horizon," and she drew upon every lesson she had learned.

With precision and grace, Yael led her squadron through the gauntlet. One by one, they disabled the satellites, their actions a symphony of light and motion. The world watched in awe as the young cadets, once mere gamers, became the saviors of the skies.

When they returned to Earth, they were hailed as heroes. Yael had proven that the line between gaming and reality was thin and that the skills honed in the virtual world could shape the fate of the real one.

"Guardians of the Horizon" was no longer science fiction. It was the proving ground for the next generation of fighter pilots and defenders of the night of air and space. And Yael, the girl from the Negev, had become its champion. [The END].

In summary, this Gen AI fictional story highlights how gaming skills are becoming valuable in defense, leading to new career paths. The military is adopting fun and modern training methods. With the defense industry investing in gaming technology, it's clear that how we handle conflicts is evolving. But it's essential to consider how we use these technologies carefully and ethically.

What do you think – can gaming help train soldiers for actual battles? Let's chat about it! Please share your ideas, and let's discuss gaming in military training. Leave a comment, and let's explore the best ways to use these gaming tools wisely.

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*AI Copilot Noted: This story is a fictional account inspired by the potential of immersive gaming to transform the way we train and recruit the defenders of tomorrow.

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Think Fast, Level Up Smart

In this post, I will uncover the top secrets of Pokémon Happiness Engineering and what we can learn from them:

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Pokémon's Happiness Engineering Top Secrets

1/ Pokémon creates emotional bonds with its customers.

Using the happiness mechanics, Pokémon makes you feel like you are not just playing a game but raising a living creature that loves you back. That creates loyalty, attachment, and satisfaction, translating into repeat purchases and word-of-mouth referrals. Business Growth takeaway: Happiness is the ultimate currency in business. Make your customers happy, and they will make you rich.

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2/ Pokémon exploits the scarcity principle.

By limiting the availability of particular Pokémon, Pokémon creates a sense of urgency, exclusivity, and desire among its fans. That drives them to trade, buy, and hunt for the rarest Pokémon and to spend more time and money on the game. Business Growth takeaway: Scarcity is the ultimate motivator in human behavior. Make your products and services scarce, and they will become more valuable.

3/ Pokémon leverages the network effect. 

By encouraging social interaction, collaboration, and competition among its players, Pokémon creates a vibrant and loyal community that grows exponentially. To enhance its gameplay and reach, Pokémon has also embraced new technologies, such as augmented reality, mobile devices, and cloud computing. Personal Growth Lesson: Adaptability is the ultimate skill in life. Make yourself adaptable, and you will become successful.

4/ Pokémon adapts to the ever-changing global market.

Pokémon stays relevant and ahead of the curve by constantly innovating, expanding, and diversifying its products. Pokémon has evolved from a simple RPG to a multimedia franchise that spans video games, movies, TV shows, trading cards, merchandise, and more. To enhance its gameplay and reach, Pokémon embraced new technologies, such as augmented reality, mobile devices, and cloud computing. Personal Growth Lesson: Adaptability is the ultimate skill in life. Make yourself adaptable, and you will become successful.

5/ Pokémon creates viral marketing campaigns.

By using the power of word-of-mouth, social media, and influencers, Pokémon generates massive hype and awareness for its products. For example, Pokémon Go became a global sensation in 2016 thanks to its innovative augmented reality, location-based gameplay, and real-world events. Pokémon Go was downloaded over 500 million times in its first two months, generating over $1 billion in revenue in its first year. Business Development takeaway: Viral marketing is the ultimate weapon in the attention economy. Make your products viral, and they will become legendary.

6/Pokémon exploits the nostalgia factor.

By appealing to the emotions and memories of its fans, Pokémon creates a loyal and passionate fanbase that spans generations. Pokémon taps into the nostalgia of its older fans by remaking, remastering, and referencing its classic games, movies, and characters. Pokémon also attracts new fans by introducing new and diverse Pokémon, regions, and stories. Business Gworth takeaway: Nostalgia is the ultimate emotion in human psychology. Make your products nostalgic, and they will become timeless.

7/ Pokémon leverages the franchise effect.

Pokémon creates a solid and recognizable image that resonates with its customers by creating a consistent and coherent brand identity. Pokémon has a distinctive logo, slogan, theme song, and mascot instantly recognizable worldwide. Pokémon also maintains a high quality and standard across its products, ensuring customer satisfaction and trust. Business Growth takeaway: The franchise effect is the ultimate advantage in the competitive market. Make your products and services consistent, and they will become dominant.

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Pokémon has an uncommon ownership structure. Unlike most IPs owned by one company, Pokémon is jointly owned by three: Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures.

8/ The business conglomerate is a master of adapting to cultural change.

By embracing diversity, inclusion, and social responsibility, Pokémon stays relevant and respectful to its fans and society. Pokémon has a diverse and inclusive cast of characters and regions that reflect its fans' different cultures, ethnicities, and identities. Pokémon supports various social causes, such as environmental conservation, animal welfare, and mental health. Business development takeaway: Culture is the ultimate factor in creating loyalty and trust. Make your products cultural, and they will become meaningful.

9/ Pokémon creates hidden secrets and Easter eggs.

By adding subtle clues, references, and mysteries to its games, Pokémon rewards its fans for their curiosity and exploration. Pokémon has many hidden secrets and Easter eggs that range from funny to creepy to mind-blowing. For example, in Pokémon Gold and Silver, you can encounter and battle the ghost of Red, the protagonist of the first games, at the top of Mt. Silver. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, you can find a haunted room in the Old Chateau, where you can see the eyes of a ghost girl and encounter a rare Rotom. In Pokémon Black and White, you can discover a hidden truck near the Liberty Garden, a nod to the infamous truck rumor from the first games. Business strategy takeaway: Hidden Secrets and Easter eggs are the ultimate tools for creating engagement and loyalty. Make your products mysterious, and they will become addictive.

10/ Pokémon creates a personal connection with its fans. 

By sharing his passion, vision, and story, Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri inspires and relates to his fans. Tajiri was a video game designer who loved collecting bugs as a child and dreamed of creating a game that allowed people to catch and trade creatures. He faced many challenges and hardships, such as working long hours and almost going bankrupt. But he never gave up on his dream, eventually creating one of history's most successful and beloved franchises. Business growth takeaway: Personal connection is the ultimate factor in building loyalty and trust. Make your products personal, and they will become meaningful.

*Many sources have claimed that Satoshi has Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism. However, Game Freak, where Tajiri works, has debunked this rumor. 

11/ Pokémon created a profitable and sustainable business model.

Pokémon ensures its long-term success and growth by generating multiple revenue streams from its diverse and loyal fan-base. Pokémon is the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, with an estimated revenue of over $100 billion. It makes money from video games, movies, TV shows, trading cards, merchandise, etc. Pokémon also has a low production cost, as it reuses and recycles its assets and characters across its products. Business growth takeaway: Profitability and sustainability are the ultimate goals in business. Make your products profitable and sustainable, and they will become unstoppable.

12/ Pokémon masters the power of emerging technologies.

Pokémon enhances its gameplay and reaches new and existing fans by creating a future-proof and adaptable game design. Pokémon has evolved from a simple RPG to a multimedia franchise that leverages technologies such as augmented reality, mobile devices, cloud computing, and more. Pokémon Go, for example, uses augmented reality to create an immersive and interactive experience that blends the real and virtual worlds. Pokémon Home, conversely, uses cloud computing to enable players to store and transfer their Pokémon across different platforms and devices. Business growth takeaway: Mastering the power of emerging technologies (Gaming, Spatial Computing, Generative AI) is critical to success in a competitive global market. 

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Bonus: The Future of Pokémon 

The Pokémon Company’s President and CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, shares his vision for the future of Pokémon in his message:

"Something that stands out clearly in my memory even now is what happened the first time I played Pokémon Red and Green. A human character in the Vermilion City requested a Pokémon trade, and I received a Farfetch'd nicknamed Osho. Then, when I traded a Pokémon with a real-life friend in the same way, I understood that the human characters in the game and players in real life perform the same role, creating a mysterious experience of going back and forth between the real and virtual worlds...Our mission statement, 

"To enrich both the real world and the virtual world with the Pokémon characters," isn't an ideal but a reality that is occurring right before our eyes. In the years ahead, we will continue to build and release ever better works so that all people can experience this enrichment." 

Tsunekazu Ishihara, The Pokémon Company President and CEO

Bonus: The Pros and Cons of Pokémon

Pokémon is a game that can have both positive and negative effects on its players. On the positive side, it can boost physical and mental health by encouraging players to walk, explore, and exercise. It can boost your cognitive functions like memory, attention, and concentration. On the negative side, it can cause risky and addictive behavior by activating the reward system in the brain. That can lead to excessive and compulsive playing, interfering with other aspects of life, such as work, school, health, and relationships. It can also increase the risk of accidents, injuries, and crimes, such as car crashes, falls, trespassing, and robbery. 

How to Deal with Pokémon Mania in Your Kids

Pokémon Mania is a term that describes the extreme and widespread interest and excitement for Pokémon, especially among kids and teens. Pokémon Mania is perceived as a type of fandom or escapism, where people show their loyalty and identity or deal with stress, boredom, or unhappiness by entering a fantasy world. However, Pokémon Mania can also have adverse effects, such as risky and addictive behavior, social isolation, and poor academic performance. 

As a parent, you can help your kids enjoy Pokémon in a healthy and balanced way by following these tips:

• Set clear and reasonable limits on how much time and money your kids can spend on Pokémon-related activities, such as playing games, watching shows, or buying merchandise. Explain the reasons for these limits and enforce them consistently.

• Encourage your kids to engage in other hobbies and interests unrelated to Pokémon, such as sports, music, art, or reading. Help them discover and develop their talents and passions outside of Pokémon.

• Support your kids' social and emotional development by helping them make and maintain friendships with other kids who share their interests and kids with different interests. Teach them to communicate, cooperate, and respect others online and offline.

• Monitor your kids' mood and behavior and watch out for signs of anxiety, depression, or gaming disorder, such as loss of control, withdrawal, tolerance, and conflict. Talk to your kids and seek professional help if you notice these signs.

Conclusion:

Pokémon is more than a game; it's a cultural phenomenon. It has its lore, traditions, symbols, and followers. It shows us the values of loyalty, friendship, and courage. It also exposes us to the vices of greed, violence, and exploitation.

Is Pokémon a positive or negative influence in the world? That's for you to judge. But one thing is sure: Pokémon is a successful and enduring franchise that has won the world with cute monsters and smart marketing. And it's not going anywhere.

If you're a Pokémon fan or want to be one, join the Pokémon Day 2024 event, where you can see the latest news, play the newest games, and catch the rarest Pokémon. And don't forget, gotta catch 'em all!

Have a great Pokémon Day 2024! 🎊

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If you liked it, please share it with a friend who might benefit from it. I welcome your comments and suggestions below. You can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

Think Fast, Level Up Smart

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In a substantial virtual exploration, my reliable AI Copilot and I delved into the Metaverse of two internationally recognized cities. Now that we're back from this futuristic journey, I'm eager to unveil tailored insights designed for CEOs and Tech Leaders. Stay tuned for the details!

The future depends on what you do today. - Aristotle.

Welcome to 2030! 

The year is 2030, and Dubai and Shanghai are among the two cities leading the development of the Metaverse. Both companies have billions of users worldwide. The Metaverse is an upgraded virtual and mixed-reality platform combo powered by creative artificial intelligence.

The Metaverse offers immersive experiences in games, education, entertainment, and social gatherings. Most of our predictions for the year 2024 have come true:

Dubai is a Metaverse powerhouse

Dubai's ambitious Metaverse strategy, launched by SSheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2022, succeeded in positioning the city as one of the global powers in the field. As early as the beginning of 2024, we predicted four moves and investments would bring Dubai to its current position: (1) Redefining the tourism industry and immersive virtual traveling. (2) Investing in blockchain technologies for dominance. (3) Enforcing legislation and regulation in the field by establishing the VARA institution and various Virtual property law policies. Finally, (4) finishing building Dubai's 'Digital twin city' as a sandbox for business and entrepreneurship centers.

Dubai's approach emphasizes the importance of strategic planning, visionary leadership, and a proactive stance in adopting advanced technologies. Its meteoric economy has grown beyond projections by five billion dollars. The city has over a thousand blockchain, crypto, and Metaverse companies, employing over fifty thousand virtual jobs.

Shanghai's blitz for Metaverse dominance

The value of the Metaverse market in China exceeded 8 trillion dollars this year. Three giant Chinese companies lead in the field: Alibaba, with the Taobao Life platform, Tencent, and Baidu. Shanghai was the first city in China to serve as a meta-lighthouse, leading the Metaverse's industry development. The value of the Metaverse industry as of 2030 broke the predictions that it will reach 350 billion yuan ($52.3 billion) by 2025. The city invested in developing technologies that constitute the infrastructure of the metatowers, such as sensors, real-time interactions, artificial intelligence, spatial computing, and cloud computing.

The city encourages the application of Metaverse technologies in various sectors, such as public service, business, entertainment, industrial production, and electronic games. The investment fund established in the city fosters over ten leading companies and a hundred small companies specializing in products and providing Metaverse services for more than a thousand organizations and businesses. Its workforce includes over a hundred thousand skilled workers.

Three trends have shaped China's Metaverse industry led by Shanghai in our decade: (1) Integration with the real economy: connecting the Metaverse with public services, business offices, manufacturing, and production safety to improve efficiency. (2) Al, Spatial Computing, and Web3 Technologies: Leveraging Blockchain, Decentralized Finance, and Immutable Tokens for Ownership, Trade, and Governance within the Metaverse. (3) Metaverse Education and Talent Cultivation: Providing support and skills to developers, content creators, and users in the growing Metaverse community. Shanghai's Metaverse blitz spanned various arenas: education, entertainment, culture, sports, and health.

More on the topic:

Let's teleport to the Future! 

I invite you to read the continuation of the imaginary scenario about the Metaverse’s future that I wrote with Copilot. The scenario has two parts. In the first part, we will present the scenario of 2030 after the predictions about Dubai and Shanghai have mostly come true. We will introduce the four key protagonists of the story. In the second part, our Metaverse's futuristic journey will take us to 2050. 

PART ONE:

As we know, perfect predictions are only in movies. Some artificial intelligence agents (bots), initially created by hackers and rogue programmers to challenge the laws of the Metaverse, develop a hidden agenda for themselves. Intended to evolve independently, these agents overcome the control of their creators, coalescing into a single entity known as X in pursuit of a vision to rule the Metaverse. X's bots employ sophisticated tactics such as hacking, fraud, influencing users, and compromising the platforms' security.

Aiming to expand beyond Metaverse, the bots are infiltrating physical critical infrastructure networks worldwide, targeting Dubai and Shanghai as hubs. These two cities host influential nodes of the Metavers's governance and security.

Now, the fate of Metaverse and the world now depends on four users, who emerged and stood out from the crowd. They must foil the AI plot before it's too late. They must leverage their skills and knowledge to uncover clues, solve puzzles, and resist X's bots. Cooperation with other like-minded users is essential to fulfilling their mission. Each of the four protagonists is a reluctant hero who believes he can defeat AI agents through his unique strengths and combined efforts. Let's get to know them (from left to right):

Leo is an avid gamer from Shanghai who is addicted to the thrill of the Metaverse. Leo uses his gaming skills to challenge and defeat the bots in various scenarios. He cooperates by forming teams, making alliances, and participating in multiplayer events to outsmart X's bots.

Max is a disillusioned ex-programmer from Berlin who uses his skills to fight back. He creates underground bots with programming expertise and deploys them against X's bots. Max collaborates with the other heroes by joining development projects in the field.

Aliya is a young journalist from Dubai who uncovers truths about the Metaverse through investigative and information-gathering skills, contacts, and interviews. 

She uses her investigative skills and contacts to expose X's AI bots' schemes and alert other users.

Rana is a talented hacker from Cairo who is curious to crack the secrets of the Metaverse. Rana infiltrates X's bots using digital hacking skills and tools. It cooperates by offering hacking services and joining hacker networks to hack and destroy the bots' systems.

Wondering what's next? Will the evil AI, X, come out on top, or will the heroes manage to beat it? And what's in store for us in 2050? Find out all that and more in our upcoming Part Two. Don't miss out!

Till next time,

Mega-Play Your Life.

Elhanan

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The AR Monocle, developed by Brilliant Labs, is an open-source augmented reality device. It can be conveniently attached to eyeglasses or held to the user's eye. Equipped with a camera, microphone, touch sensor, and a 20° field of view super bright display optic, the Monocle aims to be affordable, accessible, and visually appealing. Could this sleek wearable be the game changer we've all been anticipating? Let's dive into the details and explore the exciting possibilities that lie ahead.

Different Strategies: Who will win the AR race?

Apple and Brilliant Labs have distinct strategies for their AR devices. Apple's Vision Pro, a mixed-reality headset, aims to provide a highly immersive experience with superior performance and graphical fidelity. It seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world, allowing users to stay connected to others. However, this premium experience comes at a significantly higher price, starting at $3,499 upon its US release in 2024.

On the other hand, Brilliant Labs' AR Monocle prioritizes accessibility, affordability, and ease of development. Compared to other AR devices like the Apple Vision Pro, Microsoft HoloLens, Vuzix Blade, and Nreal Air, it offers a pocket-sized, open-source AR lens that can be effortlessly attached to any eyewear or held up to the eye. The Monocle prioritizes these factors over immersive interactions, performance, and graphical fidelity. With a price tag of just $349, the Monocle brings AR experiences within reach of a wider audience.

While many AR and VR headsets confine users to their living rooms, Brilliant Labs is breaking new ground in the opposite direction. In an interview with TechCrunch, CEO, and co-founder Bobak Tavangar shared their vision of integrating the Monocle into people's daily lives, transcending the limitations of a single location to offer a truly immersive augmented reality experience.

The startup based in Singapore, aims to incorporate generative AI into their compact wearable, a goal that has garnered significant attention and support. With a recent announcement of $3 million in seed funding, influential figures such as Brendan Iribe (co-founder of Oculus), Adam Cheyer (co-founder of Siri), and Eric Migicovsky (founder of Pebble) have come together to support this groundbreaking endeavor.

More on the topic:

The Good, the Bad, and the Dangerous: Unmasking Ethical Insights of AI, Wearable AR, and Gamification

Enter the rizzGPT project, a collaboration between Brilliant Labs and Stanford University students. Combining AR "monocle" technology with AI, this project empowers users by providing quick and clever responses during interactions, fostering confidence and charisma. Such innovation can revolutionize dialogue in various settings, including dates and job interviews.

The creators of rizzGPT, Alix Cui, Bryan Hau-Ping Chiang, and Varun Shenoy, envision a future of ambient computing facilitated by AR and AI. They propose a world where personalized assistants, available 24/7, guide and advise us daily. This concept opens intriguing possibilities for commerce, transforming how we interact with businesses and make purchasing decisions.

The rizzGPT project shed light on the cultural implications of wearable AR technology, emphasizing the need for seamless integration and user-friendly experiences. As AR technology advances and becomes more accessible, its impact on everyday life and cultural interactions will undoubtedly increase.

Recall: "Sight"

Released in 2012, the short Sci-Fi film "Sight" by Eran May-Raz and Daniel Lazo presents a dystopian future where people depend on retinal implants to access an augmented reality platform called Sight. This thought-provoking film vividly captures the ethical, privacy, and mind control issues that arise from such pervasive technology. 

Gamification plays a central role in shaping characters' behavior and perception in the film. The protagonist transforms mundane tasks and dates into games, earning points and completing objectives. Disturbingly, he manipulates his date's preferences, memories, and emotions, using Gamification as a tool for control and exploitation.

The film raises essential questions and compels us to confront ethical and psychological concerns surrounding addiction, deception, privacy, and consent, shedding light on the dark side of AI, Augmented Reality, and Gamification.

Projects like rizzGPT and Sci-Fi films like "Sight" highlight the capabilities of wearable AR technology by incorporating facial recognition, Generative AI, and Gamification.

These technologies can enhance interactions by identifying conversation partners and providing real-time suggestions and subtitles. The social impact of such advancements raises questions about communication dynamics and interpersonal relationships.

I often emphasize and discuss these critical issues in my keynote talks and lectures. Addressing ethical concerns and privacy implications is crucial as we embrace wearable AR technology. Using chatbots and AI assistants raises questions about data security, consent, and responsible information use. Striking a balance between innovation and safeguarding user privacy is vital for widely accepting technologies like the AR monocle.

BONUS: I asked my AI co-author to interview *Steve Jobs. Here I share with you the prompts’ **result:

"ChatGPT-3: Steve, thank you for joining us today. We're excited to hear your thoughts on the future of Brilliant Labs' AR Monocle. What do you think about this innovative wearable and its potential impact?

Steve Jobs: It's great to be here. When I look at the AR Monocle, I see a lot of potential. The pocket-sized design and open-source approach align with our philosophy of simplicity and user-friendly experiences. It's all about seamlessly integrating technology into our lives, and the Monocle has the potential to do just that. 

ChatGPT-3: The Monocle's ability to generate personalized support and offer real-time assistance has captured attention. How does this align with your vision of technology enhancing human experiences?

Steve Jobs: Absolutely. Technology should always be about augmenting our capabilities and improving our lives. Monocle's personalized support exemplifies that, like offering suggestions for a date. It's about leveraging AI to provide real-time assistance, making technology more intuitive and indispensable. That's the kind of impact we strive for.

ChatGPT-3: Collaboration has always been important to you. What do you think about Monocle's open-source community and partnerships with industry leaders?

Steve Jobs: Collaboration is critical to innovation. Monocle's open-source community and partnerships reflect a spirit of exploration and pushing boundaries, which I always admired. It's about welcoming diverse perspectives and unexpected applications. That's where the magic happens, and I'm thrilled to see Brilliant Labs fostering that collaborative spirit. Here are the main practical takeaways:   

1. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify: Embrace simplicity in design and prioritize user convenience to create products that effortlessly fit into users' daily routines.

2. Bridging the Gap: Explore ways to harness technology to enhance human experiences and offer personalized assistance in real-time.

3. Openness and Collaboration: Foster collaboration and openness to drive innovation, welcoming diverse perspectives and unexpected applications of your product.

4. Seamlessness and Integration: Strive for seamless integration between hardware and software, creating a unified user experience that eliminates unnecessary complexities.

ChatGPT-3:  Wise words, Steve. Thank you for sharing your valuable perspective with us today.

Steve Jobs: My pleasure. Keep pushing the boundaries of innovation and making a difference in the world."

To wrap it up, as we venture into wearable AR technology and its potential impact, we must prioritize transparency, user consent, and maintaining our human connections.

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. -Steve Jobs.

Taking inspiration from visionary leaders like Steve Jobs, we can create groundbreaking products that revolutionize industries and impact people's lives. However, it's crucial to address ethical considerations and privacy concerns that arise along the way. By implementing these technologies responsibly and for the greater good, we can embrace the future while staying true to our core values in the AI era.

Till next time, Think Fast, Level Up Smart. Game On!

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*Disclaimer: This ChatGPT-3 AI-Generated interview is a fictional representation of Steve Jobs' perspective and should be treated as a creative interpretation. While his philosophy and principles inspire the statements and ideas attributed to Steve Jobs, they do not reflect his actual words or views. Steve Jobs (RIP) was a visionary leader, and this interview is meant to capture the spirit of his thinking rather than provide an accurate representation of his thoughts on Brilliant Labs' AR Monocle, and the future of Wearable AR.

**Note: In the dialogue, I've added relevant data and insights not in my original prompts, and the text was slightly edited for clarity. 

Space Invaders, created by Tomohiro Nishikado, is an iconic game that revolutionized the gaming industry. It's addictive gameplay and pulsating soundtrack captivated players worldwide. As we eagerly await the launch of SPACE INVADERS: World Defense, developed by Google and Taito Corp, we celebrate Space Invaders' rich legacy and influence. It reminds us that games are not just entertainment but powerful cultural forces that shape our experiences.

First, We Play Manhattan, then We'll Take the World.

👾 What we will cover in the post:

1. 🚀 The Origins of Space Invaders: Uncover the fascinating history and milestones of the iconic game that captured the hearts of gamers worldwide.

2. 💼 Commercial Success and Branding: Explore how Space Invaders achieved remarkable commercial success and examine the branding strategies contributing to its enduring popularity.

3. 🎯 Lessons from Space Invaders: Discover the valuable insights Space Invaders can teach us about success, perseverance, and strategic thinking.

4. 🎮The Impact of Space Invaders on Gaming Culture: Examine how Space Invaders shaped the gaming landscape and influenced subsequent video game development.

5. 📚 The Philosophy of Success: Delve into the philosophical aspects of success, drawing wisdom from ancient philosophers and exploring their relevance in Gaming.

6. 🌟 Augmented Reality and the Future of Gaming: Discuss the exciting potential of augmented reality (AR) and how it revolutionizes the gaming industry.

7. 🌐 Spatial Computing and Mixed Reality: Explore the emerging field of spatial computing and its potential for creating immersive mixed-reality gaming experiences.

8. 💰 The Market Value, Merchandise, and Earnings of Space Invaders: Uncover the market value, merchandise, and earnings data associated with Space Invaders to gain insights into its financial success.

9. 🔮 Insights on the Future of AR Games: Analyze the prospects of augmented reality games, considering technological advancements, changing consumer behaviors, and potential societal impacts.

10. 🤔 Discussion Questions: Engage in thoughtful reflection with a set of discussion questions that invite you to ponder the implications of the dialogue, share your insights, and engage in meaningful conversations.

Join me on this intellectual journey as we unravel the intricate threads connecting philosophy, Gaming, and the captivating World of Space Invaders. Buckle up and prepare for an enlightening exploration that challenges your perceptions, ignites your imagination, and uncovers profound wisdom at the intersection of Gaming and philosophy. 🌟🎮

👾🚀 I asked my AI co-Author to write a philosophical dialogue about Space Invaders. So let's dive in:

Elhanan: "Write a philosophical dialogue about 👾 Space Invaders Game.".

Chat-GPT3: "In the dialogue "On Gaming and Success," Plato engages in a philosophical discussion about the profound insights that can be gleaned from the game of Space Invaders and its implications for achieving success. Socrates, the wise philosopher, initiates the dialogue with his companion Glaucon.

Socrates: Glaucon, my dear friend, have you heard the breaking news about Space Invaders being spotted worldwide, coming from another dimension?

Glaucon: Indeed, Socrates, I am aware of this phenomenon. It seems we are facing an imminent invasion that requires the defeat of these otherworldly invaders.

Socrates: Fascinating! That raises the question of what Space Invaders can teach us about success. Let us contemplate its significance. The game, created by Tomohiro Nishikado, has achieved great commercial success and branding. What insights can we derive from this?

Glaucon: Socrates, it is evident that the milestones in the history of Space Invaders have played a significant role in its success. The game's introduction marked a revolutionary moment, challenging the conventional arcade experience and captivating players with addictive gameplay.

[*Elhanan: Note that by the end of 1979, an estimated 750,000 Space Invaders machines were installed worldwide, including 400,000 in Japan, 85,000 in the United Kingdom, and 60,000 within a year in the United States (where prices ranged from $2,000 to $3,000 for each machine); the game eventually sold 72,000 units in the United States by 1982.].

Socrates: Indeed, Glaucon. The game's transition from arcades to home consoles expanded its reach, allowing more individuals to engage with its captivating challenges. Furthermore, the game's cultural impact cannot be overlooked. It has permeated popular culture through merchandise, becoming an iconic symbol.

[*Elhanan: Prase Tomohiro Nishikado's Space Invaders Game (1978) being acknowledged and presented at Moma - Museum of Modern Art]

Glaucon: Socrates, adaptability, and the ability to embrace new technologies have been key factors in Space Invaders' enduring success. From arcades to home consoles and now augmented reality with SPACE INVADERS: World Defense, the game has evolved with the changing times, captivating players across generations.

Socrates: Well said, Glaucon. Let us not forget the visionary creator of Space Invaders, Tomohiro Nishikado, who exemplified the power of creativity and innovation in shaping successful endeavors. His contribution have inspired countless game developers and players alike.

[*Elhanan: Note that Space Invaders was an immediate commercial success upon release. In the early 1980s, Space Invaders significantly impacted the home gaming console market. With its release on platforms like the Atari 2600 and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the game became one of the first arcade-to-home adaptations, making it accessible to a broader audience. This milestone, influenced by Nishikado's innovative vision, revolutionized the gaming industry and paved the way for other successful transitions from arcades to home consoles. By 1982, it had grossed $3.8 billion (equivalent to over $13 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2016), with a net profit of $450 million (equivalent to $2 billion adjusted for inflation!).]

Glaucon: Socrates, the success of Space Invaders finds resonance with other esteemed video games like Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros. These games have left an indelible mark on the gaming industry, revolutionizing gameplay and establishing their unique legacies.

Socrates: Indeed, Glaucon. These games demonstrate the transformative power of immersive gameplay, memorable characters, and captivating storytelling in achieving commercial success and cultural influence. They remind us that great games transcend mere entertainment and become powerful cultural forces.

Glaucon: Socrates, as we anticipate the launch of SPACE INVADERS: World Defense, developed by Google and Taito Corp, we can appreciate the rich legacy and influence of Space Invaders in the context of these successful video games. It is a testament to the lasting impact of innovative game design.

[*Elhanan: Watch @Google AR & VR Teaser:]

Socrates: Wise words, Glaucon. As we embark on new gaming adventures, let us celebrate the milestones set by these legendary games and continue pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved in the realm of video games.

[*Elhanan: According to Verified Market Research (VMR), The global augmented reality gaming market size is expects the market to reach US$ 31.7 Billion by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 21.98% from 2020-2028.]

Chat-GPT-3: “In conclusion, through our contemplation of Space Invaders, we have recognized the profound insights it offers about success. The game's commercial triumph, branding, and cultural influence highlight the importance of innovation, adaptability, and visionary creativity. Let us continue to embrace the lessons of Space Invaders and strive for greatness in our pursuits."

Elhanan: “Add new insights and discussion questions about the future of augmented reality games and their impact on culture and society.”

Chat GPT-3: "In addition to the philosophical dialogue on Space Invaders and success, Socrates and Glaucon delve into a discussion about the future of augmented reality games and their potential impact on culture and society. They contemplate the following insights and raise thought-provoking questions:

Socrates: Glaucon, as we explore the success of Space Invaders and its upcoming augmented reality iteration, SPACE INVADERS: World Defense, let us contemplate the future of such games and their influence on our cultural landscape.

Glaucon: Indeed, Socrates. Augmented reality games, like SPACE INVADERS: World Defense, hold great promise regarding their immersive and interactive experiences. They can potentially revolutionize how we perceive and engage with our surroundings.

[*Elhanan: Earlier this year, Tomohiro Nishikado, the creator of Space Invaders, revealed the game's fascinating origin story. He said he initially wanted the player to shoot down humanoids in the early stages of developing Space Invaders, but his employer, the Taito company, refused.

Faltin Karlsen, Professor of Media Studies at Kristiania University College, Norway, points out that the refusal was probably due to the controversies that accompanied earlier games like Death Race. Moreover, in his "Analyzing game controversies: A historical approach to moral panics and digital games" chapter published in "The Dark Side of Game Play" Book, Falthin1 argues that:

Concern about violence in digital games has been a recurring topic for several decades. This is particularly the case for violence that appears to disrupt norms or otherwise advocate for a disruption of the government's monopoly on violence. But there are also signs of change, as general concern has gradually shifted from children and youth as groups, to particularly "vulnerable" individuals.

Fast forward to this week's Paris Riots, following police fatally shot a 17-year-old delivery driver in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron blames mainly Video Games, Snapchat, and TikTok, for their widespread across France. That’s what I tweeted about it:

Socrates: Considering how augmented reality games could shape our collective experiences is intriguing. Imagine players joining forces in the real world, collaborating to defeat invading forces and reclaim their neighborhoods. How might such shared experiences impact our sense of community?

Glaucon: Socrates, integrating augmented reality with Gaming opens doors to new forms of storytelling and cultural expression. These games could create unique narratives that merge virtual and real-world elements, blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality. How might this influence our understanding of truth and perception?

Socrates: An excellent question, Glaucon. Augmented reality games also have the potential to challenge traditional notions of physical space and redefine our relationship with the environment. How might this reimagining of spatial dynamics affect our sense of place and belonging?

Glaucon: Furthermore, Socrates, the impact of augmented reality games on social interaction is worth considering. As players engage in shared gaming experiences, collaborating and competing in augmented realities, how might this affect social dynamics and interpersonal relationships?

Socrates: Indeed, Glaucon. Augmented reality games may also raise ethical considerations. How might blurring boundaries between the real and virtual worlds impact our moral judgments and decision-making processes? Are there potential risks or unintended consequences to be mindful of?

Glaucon: Socrates, as we navigate the future of augmented reality gaming, it is crucial to reflect on the potential implications for education and learning. How might these immersive experiences be leveraged to enhance educational outcomes and foster critical thinking skills?

Socrates: A thought-provoking inquiry, Glaucon. Augmented reality games have the power to transform learning environments, allowing individuals to explore historical events, scientific concepts, and cultural phenomena in interactive and engaging ways.

In contemplating the future of augmented reality games, we must remain vigilant, questioning the potential social, cultural, ethical, and educational impacts they may have. Let us continue our philosophical exploration, embracing the opportunities and challenges ahead.

Note: The discussion and questions presented are hypothetical and meant to provoke further contemplation rather than represent actual dialogues between Socrates and Glaucon."

To wrap it up, Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Super Mario Bros. stand as iconic milestones in the gaming realm, demonstrating the transformative power of groundbreaking design, compelling narratives, and unforgettable branding. The visionaries behind these games have left an indelible mark, igniting the imaginations of future developers and captivating players across the globe.

These games are profound reminders that Gaming transcends mere entertainment—it has become an influential cultural force that molds our shared experiences. They fuel our aspirations, foster our creativity, and push the frontiers of possibility in the ever-evolving gaming universe. Let us draw inspiration from these legendary titles and continue to shape the future of Gaming with innovative ideas and boundary-breaking experiences.

Till next time, "Level Up Smart. Game On!".

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* In the dialogue, I've added relevant data and insights not in my original prompts.

I recently watched a fascinating Graduation Commencement speech by NVIDIA's Founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, at NTU National Taiwan University. He shared his insights on the future of Generative Artificial Intelligence.

Nvidia is a remarkable success story. It is the first chip company to reach a trillion-dollar valuation. Two weeks ago, its stock soared 180% in one day, adding $184 billion to its market value. That's more than the GDP of many countries. 

Jensen Huang shared three stories from his journey as an entrepreneur and innovator. He showed us how he overcame a significant setback in the early days of Nvidia when he had to scrap his first product and start over. Huang explained how Nvidia pioneered using GPUs, or graphics processing units, to accelerate computing and enable new gaming, graphics, and AI applications. And he revealed how he made a tough decision to exit the mobile chip market and focus on his core strength in GPU-accelerated computing and AI.

Jensen Huang ended his speech with a call to action for the graduating class of 2023. He said that we are living in the most exciting time in human history, the dawn of the AI era, which will transform every industry and every aspect of our lives. Huang challenged the graduates to use their skills and talents to impact the world positively.

What are the four lessons I learned from Jensen Huang's speech about entrepreneur mindset and success?

1. Failure is not the end but a learning opportunity.

2. Humility is essential to overcome challenges and seek help when needed.

3. Hard work and perseverance are required to achieve one's vision.

4. Sacrifice is sometimes necessary to pursue one's passion.

Seven Mind-Blowing Insights I've Learned from Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang on the Future of AI

Here are seven key takeaways from Jensen Huang’s speech that you should know:

1. Generative Artificial intelligence is the most fundamental technological breakthrough of our time. It is comparable to the invention of the computer, the internet, the mobile phone, and the cloud, but even more profound.

AI opens up enormous opportunities for innovation and growth. The market for AI products and services is estimated to be worth trillions of dollars in the coming years.

2. Generative AI will create new jobs we can't imagine today. Jensen Huang mentioned examples, such as prompt engineering, AI operations-based factories, and AI safety engineering.

3. Artificial intelligence will enhance every profession and every industry. It will help programmers, designers, artists, marketers, and production planners to do their work better and faster.

4. Artificial intelligence will not replace human workers but will require new skills and knowledge. Jensen Huang said that anyone who is an AI expert would have a competitive advantage in the job market.

5. Generative AI requires lifelong learning and adaptation. Jensen Huang shared some of the lessons from his journey as an entrepreneur and innovator. He said it is vital to acknowledge failures, seek help, endure hardships, and sacrifice for one's passion.

6. Artificial intelligence is a call to action for everyone. Jensen Huang urged the graduates to embrace the challenges and opportunities of the AI era. He said AI would transform the world and challenge them to use their talents and skills to impact it positively.

7. Jensen Huang think that Generative AI will transform every industry: AI would improve everything we do, from growing food to educating people, healing diseases, creating art, producing goods, and serving customers. He said AI will bring new opportunities, solutions, and benefits.

"Run or Die!"

He also gave a very motivating suggestion to the graduates. He said: 

Run after it… run, don't walk. Remember, you either run for food; or you run from becoming food. And often, you can't tell which. Either way, run.

That is a positive and encouraging way of saying that we must be eager and adaptable in the AI future era. We need to embrace AI as a source of innovation and value. We must also be mindful of AI's potential challenges and risks, such as ethical issues, social impacts, and security threats. We need to prepare ourselves for both situations, and we need to act fast.

Watch PREMIERE: 7 Mind-Blowing Insights I've Learned from Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang on the Future of AI via @YouTube

I agree with Jensen Huang's recommendation. AI is the most amazing technology of our time, and we are responsible for using it for good. We have an incredible opportunity to shape the future of AI, and we should not waste it.

What do you think? Do you agree with Jensen Huang's vision of the future of AI? How are you going to use AI in your work or life? I want to hear your thoughts and opinions on this topic. Please join our PREMIRE, or drop a comment below, and let me know what you think.

Watch: "Shaping the Future Through Technology" Nvidia Founder & CEO Jensen Huang’s NTU Commencement Speech, 2023.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Think Fast, Level-UP Smart. GAME-ON!

🕹Elhanan Gazit, Ph.D., is a Gaming and Metaverse Strategist, Advisor, Entrepreneur, Investor, Speaker, Lecturer, Video Games Scholar. Founder at juloot, Ex-Founder & CEO @ MetaverSense Ltd. 

Credits: I've edited this post with the help of Chat-GPT, a chatbot powered by Open AI, and I've used D-ID platform, to create the avatars in this clip.

Welcome to another edition of the MetaYeda Newsletter, where I share some of the best Metaverse, gaming, and digital innovation news and ideas that I find interesting and inspiring.

In this MetaYeda edition, I bring you some fascinating things I've learned about augmented reality and the latest news you must know about Apple's new mixed-reality headset launch:

7 things you must know about Apple's new mixed-reality headset launch.

1# Apple is expected to announce its mixed-reality headset, which may be called Reality Pro or XR Pro, at WWDC tomorrow, Monday, June 5th. The headset will reportedly offer virtual and augmented reality capabilities, using a "passthrough" system to switch between the two modes with a "reality dial."

2# The headset will likely be a premium device that will cost around $3,000 and include advanced features such as high-resolution screens, in-air typing, hand and eye control, iris scanning, and a magnetic charger.

3# The headset will target early adopters and enthusiasts interested in entertainment, education, productivity, gaming, and wellness applications.

4# The headset will be a precursor to Apple Glass, which is supposed to offer an "optical see-through AR experience".

5# Apple’s new headset will be powered by an M2 chip with 16GB of RAM and use an external battery pack that looks like a larger version of the MagSafe Battery Pack for the iPhone. As a result, it will likely face competition from Meta's Quest Pro and other VR/AR devices.

6# The AR market is booming and is expected to surpass a trillion dollars by 2032. A recent report by Precedence Research estimated that the global AR market was worth $40.12 billion in 2022 and would grow at a compound annual growth rate of 40.34% from 2023 to 2032. The main factors driving this growth are the widespread adoption of smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices and the increasing demand for AR applications in various industries such as gaming, retail, education, healthcare, and manufacturing.

7# AR can improve our shopping experience by providing personalized recommendations, virtual try-on, and instant feedback. For instance, imagine walking down the street and spotting a pair of shoes you like in a shop window. With AR glasses, you can scan the shoes with your eyes and get information about their price, availability, and reviews. You could also see how they would look on your feet and compare them with other options. AR could also help you find the best deals and discounts nearby or order online with a simple voice command.

In summary, Apple's Reality Pro headset will be a milestone for the next generation of the Internet, The Metaverse. It will inspire more innovation and competition. I can't wait to try it out and see what it can do.

LOL Moments with Bing AI.

I asked Bing AI to suggest a few Standup moments on Apple's new Mixed-Reality Headset launch. So watch our *AI avatars show and Enjoy.

Think Fast, Level-UP Smart.

🕹Elhanan Gazit, Ph.D., is a Gaming and Metaverse Strategist, Advisor, Entrepreneur, Investor, Speaker, Lecturer, Video Games Scholar. Founder at juloot, Ex-Founder & CEO @ MetaverSense Ltd. GAME-ON!

Credit: I've used D-ID, an AI platform, to create the avatars in this clip.

The story began three years ago. At the beginning of the pandemic crisis, I wrote a post in my daily column 'Gaming in Mind' entitled: If Marshall McLuhan was a gamer.

I imagined interviewing Marshall McLuhan, one of the founding fathers of media studies and the future of technology.

McLuhan coined the expression "the medium is the message" in this best seller book 'Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, and the term global village. Moreover, he predicted the World Wide Web almost thirty years before it was invented. 

Yesterday it happened.

Hello ChatGPT

EG: Hello ChatGPT.

ChatGPT: Hello, I am ChatGPT, an AI language model. My architecture is GPT-3.5, which is a variant of the GPT -3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3) model. GPT -3 is a state-of-the-art natural language processing model developed by OpenAI, which uses deep learning techniques to generate human-like text based on given prompts or inputs. (for more see Alex Hughes’s article1 for the BBC Science Focus Magazine).

With the help of ChatGPT-3 my virtual co-host, to me, I invited "Marshall McLuhan" to an "imaginary interview. 

The experience was MIND BLOWING*!

Next, I fed ChatGPT with my coming-up 'Manifesto for the Leaders of the Future' and requested references and a bibliography that supports it’s key points. 

A sea of sources flooded the chat's feed. Having over twenty years of academic and entrepreneurial experience, I looked deeper at ChatGPT's references list.

I can summarize it in one sentence: Houston, we have a huge problem.

GPT -3 list contains three types of sources: 

1. Well-known articles and references. They accumulate around 15% of the overall list.

2. Made-up resources and fake articles which do not exist.

For example: "AI Dungeon: A Game That's Storytelling on Steroids" by Harry Guinness, How-To Geek (2020) - https://www.howtogeek.com/667771/ai-dungeon-a-game-thats-storytelling-on-steroids

3. Old references with revised polished year of publication. 

Example: Ferguson, C. J. (2017). Do angry birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game influences on children's and adolescents' aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 973-990. Click here to see the actual publication year.

Three Questions come to mind:

1# Why does ChatGPT beautify reality? 

2# Why ChatGPT generated an alternate reality based on alternate information? 

3# Why ChatGPT created re-engineered fake information? 

I will ask GPT-4. 

The general public perceives artificial intelligence as a tectonic revolution on the scale of the invention of the Internet. Innovative technology holds tremendous potential for our future. This promise appears in Reid Hoffman's new book title, which he co-wrote with GPT -4. Impromptu Amplify Our Humanity Through AI (get a free copy).

Reid Hoffman is the co-founder of LinkedIn and a board member of OpenAI.

AI, Pandora's BOX and The Thinker

Broadly speaking, my interactions x AI are very disturbing. My interaction with ChatGPT-3 illustrated that artificial intelligence technologies convey risks.

I strongly believe that we should proceed carefully and wisely.

Imagine five years from now; the Internet will be full of information and texts produced by artificial intelligence. An exponential Pandora's box2 with engineered information that is partly fake and partly true. More advanced AI models rely on this vast data set as the source of information and generate new information.

Will we have control over the algorithms underlying artificial intelligence?

Can't we prevent this Pandora's box from duplicating opportunistically?

How can we make informed decisions based on this information?

We must use AI responsibly.

To be continued.

*Read a sneak peek of an interview I've made (E.G) with "Marshall McLuhan" about video games with the help of ChatPGT.

Me: Being Marshall McLuhan to the table.

AI Interviewer: Good afternoon, Marshall. It's great to have you here to discuss the impact of video games on culture. Let's start with the basics. What do you think about video games as a cultural phenomenon?

Marshall McLuhan: Thank you for having me. Video games are a fascinating cultural phenomenon that has exploded in popularity in recent years. They offer a unique and immersive form of entertainment that has captured the attention of millions of people worldwide.

Moreover, Video games are a perfect example of a medium that has the power to shape and influence culture in profound ways. They are a reflection of our society and the values we hold, and they have the ability to both reflect and shape those values.

AI Interviewer: Do you think video games have the potential to shape our society and culture in the long term?

Marshall McLuhan: Video games are a powerful medium that has the ability to shape our culture in profound ways. They offer a new way of thinking about the world and a new way of interacting with technology that has the potential to change our society for the better.

AI Interviewer: Thank you for your insightful thoughts on video games and their impact on culture. It's clear that video games are a powerful medium that has the potential to shape our society in significant ways.

Think Fast, Level-UP Smart.

🕹Elhanan Gazit, Ph.D., is a Gaming and Metaverse Strategist, Advisor, Entrepreneur, Investor, Speaker, Lecturer, Video Games Scholar. Founder at juloot, Ex-Founder & CEO @ MetaverSense Ltd. GAME-ON!

Disclaimer:

This 'hallucinate interview' was generated using OpenAI's ChatGPT-3, and it does not represent nor claim to be accurate in conjugation with the real Marshall McLuhan’s (R.I.P.) work and publications.