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Harnessing AI-metaverse synergies for smart sustainability: A knowledge management perspective on immersion, ethics, and decentralization

Author

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  • Alzeiby, Ebtesam Abdullah
  • Khandelwal, Vinay
  • Cheng, Jiyang
  • Dash, Snigdha
  • Temperini, Valerio
  • Palladino, Rosa

Abstract

Businesses are increasingly using technology to assist in running their organizations. AI and the metaverse together have the potential to reform knowledge management with sustainable opportunities. This study discusses the impact of immersive digital environments and decentralized AI-based architecture on smart knowledge systems and cognitive transformation. This study further examines how these mechanisms foster sustainability-driven business models and resilient knowledge ecosystems. A structural model was tested with data of 290 professionals. The findings reveal that immersive and decentralized technologies advance organizational knowledge systems and induce cognitive transformation in employees, resulting in sustainable business models and resilient ecosystems. Mediation analysis reveals that immersive and decentralized technologies translate into strategic outcomes through knowledge systems and cognitive transformation. However, cognitive transformation fails to mediate the decentralization and resilience nexus. This implies the need for knowledge systems to support transformation, but systematically. Building on the socio-technical systems theory, the study concludes that for digital transformation to occur, the system-level processes and the forces driving cognitive change must also coincide to drive sustainability. The findings present ethical dimensions underlying AI-driven knowledge systems related to transparency, trust, and inclusion.

Suggested Citation

  • Alzeiby, Ebtesam Abdullah & Khandelwal, Vinay & Cheng, Jiyang & Dash, Snigdha & Temperini, Valerio & Palladino, Rosa, 2026. "Harnessing AI-metaverse synergies for smart sustainability: A knowledge management perspective on immersion, ethics, and decentralization," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:85:y:2026:i:c:s0160791x26000230
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2026.103234
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