- Meta is reportedly testing AI glasses that record continuously without user command or visible indicators
- The new glasses may upload metadata for AI queries instead of raw audio or video to the server
- Mark Zuckerberg envisions AI glasses as daily assistants that could replace smartphones in the future
Meta is now reportedly testing its AI glasses to record all the time, not just when a user commands it to, according to an FT report. And there could be no way for bystanders to tell when someone is recording them. The current line of Meta AI glasses usually record 3-5 mins of video, but the new line in development could be at work round the clock with no pause.
One option Meta is reportedly considering is that the images, videos and audio may not be directly available to the user. Instead, metadata from the raw content would reportedly be extracted and uploaded to the server for Meta's AI to query - a strategic move that may help the tech giant soften regulators' wrath.
Why is Meta doing this?
Because Mark Zuckerberg believes AI glasses could soon become an everyday assistant and may even replace smartphones one day.
Zuckerberg teased the technology during Meta's first-quarter earnings, saying he wanted glasses to evolve from "being able to answer questions to being able to be a personal agent that's with you all day long, helping you remember things and achieve your goals".
Simply put, the rationale is something like this: You walked past a restaurant that looked interesting and now you can't remember its name, so you just ask Meta, 'What was that restaurant I walked past last week in that area?'
These super-sensing features could also be activated on Meta's existing glasses via a software update. The same Ray-Ban Meta glasses that you see in ads all over these days and also the ones Kylie Jenner just launched with Meta.
What's even more concerning is that reportedly there will be no light, no LED that tells you someone's glasses are recording you. Meta's current line of AI smart glasses have an LED in the corner of the frame that lights up to signal to others when a user is taking photographs or filming.
The privacy concerns on this one are pretty obviously mind-boggling and understandably privacy experts are worried.
"While we don't comment on internal prototypes, we're committed to getting our glasses right because they need to be loved by both people wearing them and those around them," Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold told The Verge in a statement. Arnold also highlighted that "Our approach has been to develop new technologies that will help people throughout their day, with privacy built in from the ground up."
Meta seems quite bullish on always-on AI devices beyond glasses. In December, it acquired Limitless, a maker of AI-powered pendants, which records and transcribes conversations in real time. Users can pull out any information they want via the company's app.
As technology becomes more and more intrusive, one can't help but wonder if humanity is steadily walking towards a real-life Black Mirror episode or perhaps this is just the next big leap for the human race - we'll know soon enough.
