The Internet is the greatest friction remover that humans invented.
In the vast tapestry of human history, few inventions have reshaped the way we live, work, and interact as profoundly as the internet. Born from a vision of interconnected computers in the late 20th century, the internet quickly grew from a niche technological experiment to the backbone of modern society. At its core, the internet’s most transformative power lies in its ability to remove friction. Where once information, communication, and commerce were constrained by physical boundaries and limitations (ie. power on the supply), the digital highways of the internet have obliterated those barriers.
Transactions that once took days and $$ now happen in milliseconds cost 0, the knowledge that was once confined to physical libraries is now accessible with a click, and people from opposite ends of the globe can collaborate in real time. This frictionless environment has not only accelerated our capabilities but has also ushered in an era of unprecedented innovation and opportunity. With this introduction in mind let’s dive in a little more detail on what Meta has revealed last week.
Meta’s AI long game
Short recap: Meta’s strategy in the last 5+ years was to find a way to build a platform and not to depend on anyone (ie. iOS, Android, etc.). They realized that the price to pay was high (ie. $10bn impact from Apple’s ATT) and started spending immense amounts on building a new platform: the metaverse.
How much money has Meta lost so far with Reality Labs?
So, Meta Connect 2023 started with the usual suspect: Meta Quest 3. Besides the yearly incremental updates and some things ‘borrowed’ from Vision Pro…nothing new. What was truly interesting were the AI announcements:
- AI Chatbots:+20 chatbots impersonating Dwyane Wade, Kendall Jenner, MrBeast, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton and more. They will help you in discussions from music to fashion and cooking.
Over time they will adapt better to your needs and we’ll be companions on the web by generating content you can watch/engage. So, we’re indeed entering the 5th stage of Social Media: AI-generated content
2. META Glasses. So, at this technological point, someone at Meta said: “Let’s put LLMs (llama 2) on Meta glasses” and the result is this:
So, now you can interact by talking with the glasses just like in the movie Her. What’s really the most important thing is that starting next year the glasses we’ll understand the environment: what you see, they will see. So, this is what the removal of friction looks like. So, the metaverse is indeed dead and we are entering the AI stage. It took some time for Mark to figure this out too. Here is an except with Alex Heath from The Verge:
“When I was thinking about what would be the key features for smart glasses, I kind of thought that we were going to get holograms in the world, and that was one. That’s kind of like augmented reality. But then there was always some vague notion that you’d have an assistant that could do something.
I thought that things like Siri or Alexa were very limited. So I was just like, “Okay, well, over the time period of building AR glasses, hopefully the AI will advance.” And now it definitely has. So now I think we’re at this point where it may actually be the case that for smart glasses, the AI is compelling before the holograms and the displays are, which is where we got to with the new version of the Ray-Bans that we’re shipping this year, right? When we started working on the product, all this generative AI stuff hadn’t happened yet…
Again, this is all really novel stuff. So I’m not pretending to know exactly what the key use cases are or how people are going to use that. But smart glasses are very powerful for AI because, unlike having it on your phone, glasses, as a form factor, can see what you see and hear what you hear from your perspective.
So if you want to build an AI assistant that really has access to all of the inputs that you have as a person, glasses are probably the way that you want to build that. It’s this whole new angle on smart glasses that I thought might materialize over a five- to 10-year period but, in this odd twist of the tech industry, I think actually is going to show up maybe before even super high-quality holograms do.” – LINK
Take 10 minutes to see the resume of the event:
That said, I have two main conclusions:
Conclusion 1: The future of AI is both exhilarating and challenging, laden with vast potential and ethical dilemmas. With Microsoft’s paradigm shift from placing “a computer in every home” to offering “an AI Copilot to everyone,” we see the next phase of digital evolution taking shape. This vision underscores the belief that AI will be as ubiquitous and integral to our daily lives as computers are today. It goes beyond mere convenience; it speaks to AI’s potential to augment human abilities, making us better decision-makers, creators, and innovators. While this offers immense potential for personal and professional growth, it also brings forth concerns about privacy, autonomy, and the nature of human-machine collaboration. Ensuring that this AI Copilot remains a tool—extending human capacity without overshadowing human agency—will be the cardinal challenge of our times.
Conclusion 2: As AI continues to seep into the fabric of our daily routines, the very way we interact, work, and think is poised for a transformation. Microsoft’s vision of providing an “AI Copilot to everyone” is a testament to the democratizing power of AI. The aspiration to make AI accessible to all suggests a future where everyone, irrespective of their background or expertise, can leverage the power of artificial intelligence to enhance their capabilities. However, with this massive democratization comes the responsibility of ensuring transparency, fairness, and security. The AI of the future should not only be a silent partner but also one that is trusted, accountable, and aligned with human values. The journey ahead promises to be transformative, and as with every technological evolution, it will be our collective choices that determine the path we tread.
