'Metaverse' children to replace real kids by 2050 and 'help with overpopulation'

dailystar.co.uk:

metaverse could become more common in the next 50 years, according to an AI expert.Author Catriona Campbell believes parents will want to care for digital children in virtual reality, using a headset to feel like they're really there with a CGI kid.These virtual kids would be just like the real thing but could be switched off at the touch of a button, and Campbell argues they'll help the world deal with 'overpopulation'. READ NEXT: Mark Zuckerberg's top secret Metaverse headset revealed after being left in hotel room In a book released this year, Campbell says a 'Tamagotchi generation' will be born and be available to parents for a 'small monthly fee'.

In the book, she says: "Virtual children may seem like a giant leap from where we are now, but within 50 years technology will have advanced to such an extent that babies which exist in the metaverse are indistinct from those in the real world." She adds: "We're already well on our way to creating the Tamagotchi generation which, for all intents and purposes, will be 'real' to their parents."On the basis that consumer demand is there, which I think it will be, AI children will become widely available for a relatively small monthly fee." The idea that the world will become dangerously overpopulated is not supported by data.