Global Citizen Dialogue

Metaverse, how will it change us?

On July 25th 2022, the third seminar of the seminar series ‘Global Citizen Dialogue – Future by us’ was held at the POSCO Center in Seoul. The event was livestreamed on zoom, with limited number of participants on site. The seminar series is a collaborative education project of FNF and POSCO TJ Park Foundation, aimed to nurture active future leaders and to discuss various social issues regarding digital transformation and future space. This time the seminar was held with a topic of ‘New Future, New Humanities - Together with Metaverse'.

The seminar started off with the presentation on Metaverse by Jae Boong Choi, Professor from Sungkyunkwan University. Prof. Choi argued that a new civilization has emerged with the birth of the smartphone and explained what kind of changes the society is facing in the process of digital transformation, introducing a new expanded concept of Metaverse. He emphasized that in the Metaverse world, it is important to learn the ability to absorb knowledge within the Metaverse universe, to nurture a fandom through the strategies that touch our heart, and to re-consider the meaning of humanity for digital world.

After the one-hour presentation by Prof. Choi, a lively discussion has followed, moderated by In Suk Kim, Director of Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP). 105 Students from 19 different countries had the opportunities to share their own imaginations of how the Metaverse universe would look like in the future with each other. They discussed possible negative effects of the Metaverse world such as rise of a new type of crimes or disadvantages that a group of people would experience who lack digital literacy; but at the same time, they also expressed the excitement at the arrival of a new era with Metaverse and the numerous virtues that it could bring to the world.

The fourth seminar which will be the last one of this year will be held in October.