Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says people without AI glasses will be at a disadvantage in the future

Echoing sentiments shared in his “superintelligence”-focused blog post this morning, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expanded on his bullish ideas that glasses will be the primary way users interact with AI in the years ahead.

Over the last few months we have begun to see glimpses of our AI systems improving themselves. The improvement is slow for now, but undeniable. Developing superintelligence is now in sight.

It seems clear that in the coming years, AI will improve all our existing systems and enable the creation and discovery of new things that aren’t imaginable today. But it is an open question what we will direct superintelligence towards.

In some ways this will be a new era for humanity, but in others it’s just a continuation of historical trends. As recently as 200 years ago, 90% of people were farmers growing food to survive. Advances in technology have steadily freed much of humanity to focus less on subsistence and more on the pursuits we choose. At each step, people have used our newfound productivity to achieve more than was previously possible, pushing the frontiers of science and health, as well as spending more time on creativity, culture, relationships, and enjoying life.

I am extremely optimistic that superintelligence will help humanity accelerate our pace of progress. But perhaps even more important is that superintelligence has the potential to begin a new era of personal empowerment where people will have greater agency to improve the world in the directions they choose.

As profound as the abundance produced by AI may one day be, an even more meaningful impact on our lives will likely come from everyone having a personal superintelligence that helps you achieve your goals, create what you want to see in the world, experience any adventure, be a better friend to those you care about, and grow to become the person you aspire to be.

Meta’s vision is to bring personal superintelligence to everyone. We believe in putting this power in people’s hands to direct it towards what they value in their own lives.

During Meta’s second-quarter earnings call, the social networking exec told investors he believes people without AI glasses will be at a disadvantage in the future. I continue to think that glasses are basically going to be the ideal form factor for AI, because you can let an AI see what you see throughout the day, hear what you hear, [and] talk to you,” Zuckerberg said during the earnings call.

Adding a display to those glasses will then unlock more value, he said, whether that’s a wider, holographic field of view, as with Meta’s next-gen Orion AR glasses, or a smaller display that might ship in everyday AI eyewear.

I think in the future, if you don’t have glasses that have AI — or some way to interact with AI — I think you’re … probably [going to] be at a pretty significant cognitive disadvantage compared to other people,” Zuckerberg added. Meta has been focused on building smart glasses, like its Ray-Ban Meta glasses and, more recently, Oakley Meta glasses. The glasses let users listen to music, take photos or videos, and ask Meta AI questions, including about what they’re seeing, among other things.

These wearables have turned into a surprise hit for the company, as revenue from sales of the Ray-Ban Metas more than tripled year-over-year, according to glasses giant EssilorLuxottica.

But Zuckerberg believes there’s more to be done with displays.

This is … what we’ve been maxing out with Reality Labs over the last 5 to 10 years — basically doing the research on all these different things,” he said.

The Reality Labs division has been a money pit for the company, so it’s not surprising the exec wants to justify its cost to investors by positioning it as a bet on the future of AI and consumer computing in general. For example, Meta said Reality Labs’ operating loss was $4.53 billion in the second quarter. Since 2020, the unit has lost nearly $70 billion.

However, the future of consumer AI may or may not be in the form of glasses. This spring, OpenAI acquired former Apple executive Jony Ive’s startup in a $6.5 billion deal to build new consumer devices for interacting with AI. Already, other startups have dabbled in this area as well, including in form factors like AI pins — such as with Humane’s flop — and pendents, like those from Limitless and Friend.

Glasses, for now, seem to make the most sense, as many people already wear them, and they’re more socially acceptable. But the world didn’t know it needed smartphones, either, until someone dreamed them up. The next AI device could be something we can’t even imagine yet.

Still, Zuckerberg cheers the idea that glasses are going to be it.

“The other thing that’s awesome about glasses is they are going to be the ideal way to blend the physical and digital worlds together,” he said. “So the whole Metaverse vision, I think, is going to … end up being extremely important, too, and AI is going to accelerate that.