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The demand for avatars to be more lifelike in the future and be able to interact as a human in a virtual world could have some disturbing repercussions if we're not careful, says ArsTechnica.

While there's no doubt that this will make our virtual experience much more enjoyable, it also has to be looked at from the trust and credibility angle when communicating with people.

Judith Donath of MIT's Media Lab says this reality probably isn't too far away. She says, "How online personas are designed may increase the impression of trustworthiness, but that does not make the information conveyed more reliable."

Some of the traits added to avatars that make them more trustworthy and credible are; making them look more human, and even making them look like the combined features of a team. If people have profiles with their pictures on them, an avatar could be created from that picture, along with others, to create a "team face," which research shows will garner more attention.

Someone creating an avatar could also take known body language traits and incorporate them into it, making what the avatar says seem trustworthy, whether or not it is.

There are those, according to Donath, that think putting this type of avatar behavior under user control is too complex, but she says that there is work that shows an avatar can perform a number of behaviors while being controlled by a single command.

It seems to me where this would be more of a danger would be with younger people, who could easily be deceived into trusting a created, trustworthy character that shows all the right type of behaviors and mannerisms that cause them to let down their guard.

I think adults have the mechanism within them to take everything with a grain of salt. This wouldn't be much different than watching someone pitching a product or selling themselves through any other type of medium; whether print, audio or video.

The possibility that human adults would be manipulated by this any more than they could by any other means of communications doesn't resonate with me. Making a virtual character look more human may make it more interesting to interact with, but to stretch that out to include being believed more by someone, is quite a jump to make.

A used car salesman looks human, but that doesn't mean we'll believe them for that reason.

The only thing it seems we would need to look out for was the outward mannerisms being made to look totally believable, regardless of what may being communicated. In other words, we'll have to listen carefully to what is being communicated, as we won't be able to read the body language with the coming avatars.

Even in regular life though, body language is only a guide, as there are many people that learn to be very cautious in how they present themselve while they interact with people in the physical world, to not tip their hands on what they're willing to do.

Other than young people, I don't have too much concern about this. If we can be manipulated by a lifelike avatar in the virtual world, we'll be able to manipulated in real life too. This would only offer another way to be able to do it.