Russian President Putin: people need to use the metaverse to communicate and learn 
distance. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a speech at the international conference on artificial intelligence and data analysis Artificial Intelligence (AI) Journey 2021, reports TASS.
At the same time, he noted that one cannot run away from the real world. “The term 'metaverse' itself was coined by the famous science fiction writer [Neil Stevenson] three decades ago. And according to his plan, people literally fled, escaped in it from the imperfection of the real world. But such an approach would be too pessimistic for us today, and I think this path is definitely not worth following. On the contrary, it is necessary to use the capabilities of the metaverse so that people can communicate, work together, study, implement joint creative and business projects, regardless of long distances, “said the head of state.
Putin also concluded that this is a challenge for companies.
In February, the Russian president announced that the world will be ruled by whoever becomes the leader in the global competition for technology and knowledge. “We see the global competition for technology and knowledge growing rapidly around the world. (…) It is clear that whoever takes the lead will determine the further development of all mankind, “he said.