Gaming, Lawyer, Speaker (Argentina)
Hall AAA | Friday | 11:50AM
Being a visionary is not always easy. At least not in the beginning because most people just don’t get your future-centred point of view. This did not stop Micaela Mantegna, who decided to carve out her own space when she started her research on videogame law, which wasn’t popular before the streaming industry gained worldwide traction. But she was adamant on following her curiosity — today she is known as the world’s first “abogamer”, a video game lawyer specializing in regulation, copyright and the uncharted digital world of the metaverse.
This all stems from Micaela’s deep appreciation for gaming. The lightbulbs over her head wouldn’t stop blinking when she was playing Mass Effect — she was entranced by the gaming franchise, which provides a compelling exploration of artificial intelligence, particularly delving into the ethical and philosophical considerations for AI in the future. She researches cyberspace as an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard, while as a member of the Future of the Metaverse Council at the World Economic Forum she helps build outputs to increase metaverse literacy.
As a TED Fellow, she has wowed audiences globally with talks like How to stop the metaverse from becoming the internet’s bad sequel?. From GDC to TED, she’s a sought-after speaker, influencing AI and metaverse policy on platforms like Chatham House’s AI Taskforce. Micaela’s work proves that video games are a fantastic way to tell stories, exercise empathy and create communities but at the same time, she recognises the need to think about intellectual property and data protection regulations in the gaming space, even managing to accurately predict a lot of the current questions and problems posed by the rise of generative AI.
Micaela Mantegna: Who Killed the Metaverse? A Murder Mystery Game
From sci-fi to hype, the road to the metaverse has seen an interesting and controversial journey. After short-lived projections of wealth, critics dismissed it as a mere fleeting trend, while the media prematurely declared its demise, leaving many to believe its destiny was sealed. However, beneath the surface, a fascinating convergence of technologies is quietly shaping the destiny of these brave new worlds. Would it be a dystopia or an abundance utopia? Will we be free or carry on the worst traits of surveillance capitalism? The future awaits and we might still have time to shape it. Join Micaela at DK2024 to discuss how we can do it together.