METAVERSE IN THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS: A COMPARISON OF SMART CHATBOTS AND DOMAIN EXPERTS

Abstract

Nowadays, it is critical for businesses to benefit from new technologies to gain competitive advantage. The Metaverse is a universe that allows people to interact through avatars and holograms in real and simulated environments but has yet to be fully explored. In addition, it is predicted that Metaverse has great potential in the business world with its new business models. This study aimed to determine the forecasts regarding the impacts of artificial intelligence-powered intelligent chatbots (ASRs) on the business world of the Metaverse using the Delphi technique. In the study, questions regarding the impacts of the Metaverse (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) on the business life were directed to 7 ASRs. In the second part of the study, the obtained forecasts were compared with similar study results conducted with domain experts using the same technique and question set. The comparison revealed that while ASRs and domain experts made many similar forecasts, they diverged on certain expressions: (i) global collaboration, (ii) personal and interactive communication, and (iii) new income streams, which were considered strong aspects of the Metaverse's impact on the business world by domain experts, were not accepted by ASRs. On the other hand, ASRs identified high costs and access inequality as common weaknesses of the Metaverse's impact on the business world, whereas domain experts could not reach a consensus on this statement.