Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, reiterated his optimistic belief that eyewear will serve as the primary method of user interaction with AI in the years ahead, a sentiment that was also expressed in his blog post about “superintelligence” this morning.
During Meta’s second-quarter earnings call, the social networking executive informed investors that he is of the opinion that individuals who do not possess AI spectacles will be at a disadvantage in the future.
Zuckerberg stated during the earnings call that spectacles are the optimal form factor for AI.
This is due to the fact that an AI can observe what you see, hear what you hear, and converse with you throughout the day.
He stated that the inclusion of a display in the glasses will enable additional value, whether it be a holographic field of view that is wider, as in Meta’s next-generation Orion AR glasses, or a smaller display that could be packaged in ordinary AI eyewear.
“I believe that in the future, individuals who lack glasses that incorporate AI or a means of interacting with AI will be at a substantial cognitive disadvantage in comparison to their peers,” Zuckerberg continued.
Meta has been concentrating on the development of smart spectacles, such as the Oakley Meta glasses and the Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
Among other functions, the spectacles enable users to listen to music, capture photos or videos, and ask Meta AI inquiries, such as those regarding their surroundings.
These wearables have proven to be a surprise success for the company, as revenue from the sale of the Ray-Ban Metas has more than tripled year over year, according to eyewear behemoth EssilorLuxottica.
However, Zuckerberg is of the opinion that there is still room for improvement in the realm of displays.
“This is… what we have been maximizing with Reality Labs over the past five to ten years—basically conducting research on all of these different topics,” he stated.

It is unsurprising that the executive is seeking to justify the cost of the Reality Labs division to investors by positioning it as a wager on the future of AI and consumer computing in general, as the division has been a financial drain on the company.
Meta, for instance, reported that Reality Labs’ operating loss during the second quarter was $4.53 billion.
The unit has suffered a loss of roughly $70 billion since 2020.
Nevertheless, the future of consumer AI may or may not involve spectacles. In a $6.5 billion transaction this spring, OpenAI acquired the startup of former Apple executive Jony Ive to develop new consumer devices for interacting with AI.
Other firms have also experimented in this field, such as Humane’s unsuccessful AI brooches and Limitless and Friend’s pendents.
At present, glasses appear to be the most logical choice, as they are more socially acceptable and are already worn by a significant number of individuals.
However, the world was unaware of the necessity of smartphones until someone conceived of them. The next AI device may be something that we have yet to envision.
Nevertheless, Zuckerberg is enthusiastic about the notion that spectacles will be the solution.
“Another remarkable aspect of glasses is that they will serve as the optimal method for integrating the physical and digital realms,” he stated. “I believe that the Metaverse vision as a whole will also be of great importance, and AI will facilitate this.”