 [Summit] An expert on artificial intelligence says that within 50 years, parents will opt to have "digital offspring" that only exist in the metaverse due to concerns over the environment and overpopulation.
The prediction was made by Catriona Campbell, who is described as "one of the UK’s leading authorities on artificial intelligence."
According to Campbell, parents will decide to have digital babies, an updated version of Japanese Tamagotchi digital pet toys, for the same reasons they are already choosing not to have real babies, namely, "concerns about the environment, overpopulation, the rising cost of bringing up a child."
"Campbell predicts they will be commonplace and embraced by society within half a century," reports left-wing newspaper the Guardian.
The AI expert says the cyberspace babies will eventually be indistinguishable from the real thing and that if parents get bored of them, they can just cancel them like they would a monthly Netflix subscription.
"Campbell says virtual children will look like you, and you will be able to play with and cuddle them. They will be capable of simulated emotional responses as well as speech, which will range from "googoo gaga" to backchat, as they grow older," reports the newspaper. 
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