It’s Monday morning and you’re in Hong Kong having coffee with your new boss, a virtual robot powered by artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, his digital clone attends another meeting on his behalf, taking notes that he will review later, but is actually working from his room in Rio de Janeiro.

It may seem like something straight out of a science fiction novel, but this is the future of work promised by the metaverse and by NetDragon, a Chinese company that recently appointed an AI-powered virtual humanoid robot as rotating CEO of its flagship subsidiary, Fujian. NetDragon. web software.

Often called the next version of the internet, the metaverse promises a 3D virtual world that people enter via virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets to conduct business, hang out, and…