Ethical Challenges with Personalized Avatars in Higher Education of the Metaverse Era

Abstract

One of the first revolutions of Web 3.0 technology has been the metaverse, which is an alternative world formation where people can experience three-dimensional virtual realities through their avatars. The only way for higher education to survive in the metaverse era is to do an in-depth examination of the current situation and create strategies, regulations, and policies for all segments of this novice field considering also the ethical challenges it will bring to humanity. In a metaverse environment, there will be personalized avatars that represent real people, and in a university setting with virtual classes held in the metaverse, many ethical dilemmas and moral concerns can develop due to the utilization of avatars. The study narrowed its attention to examining these ethical issues raised by avatar customization and potential solutions to design a healthy metaverse in higher education. The study conducted an in-depth exploration with fourteen higher education lecturers, who are also key people specialized in the metaverse and web 3.0 technologies. The data obtained from the interviews were clustered under seven thematic nodes including anonymous identities; socially equal & diverse avatars; avatar policy; honesty & transparency; non-resemblance with the physical realities; avatar clothes codes; and avatars’ intellectual property. Key Words: Avatar, Ethics, Metaverse, Higher Education, Metaverse Universities