Co-designing Metaverse ethics: perspectives of Jamaican youth (Johnston et al., 2024)

Imagine stepping into a world where the rules haven’t been written yet. A place that blends the virtual with reality, where the possibilities are limitless—but the consequences? Still unknown. Now, imagine the architects of this world aren’t tech giants or government officials, but a group of Jamaican youth, aged 10 to 17. Yes, you heard that right. Young people, from a small island in the Caribbean, are co-designing the ethics for a space that could one day transform the way we live, work, and connect: the Metaverse. Welcome to Revise and Resubmit podcast. In today’s episode, we explore the groundbreaking report, 'Co-designing Metaverse Ethics: Perspectives of Jamaican Youth,' authored by Johnston, Wilson, and Derrell. Published just days ago, this report chronicles Project Amplify, a year-long initiative supported by Jesus College, Oxford, where these young minds came together to confront one of the biggest questions of our digital age: how do we create an ethical Metaverse? They tackled everything from AI ethics to the socio-technical challenges of this rapidly evolving world, crafting guidelines that could shape the future of immersive technology. But here's the real question: Can we trust the future of digital spaces to the hands of the next generation? And if so, how will they change the rules of the game? Reference Johnston, S-K., Wilson, C., & Derrell, C. (2024). Co-designing Metaverse ethics: Perspectives of Jamaican youth. Youth Can Do I.T., Jesus College, Oxford. https://doi.org/10.5287/ora-bpdmxbwdo