vision pro won't save or destroy us
When are we going to stop framing every new technology in terms of good and evil? When ChatGPT was released, it instantly sparked two competing visions of the future: AI was either going to become AstroBoy or the Terminator. Apple’s Vision Pro recently came out to a similar dichotomy. Apparently it’s either bringing us a WALL-E dystopia or a blissful second life in the metaverse.
While other companies launched all kinds of glasses and headsets — Google Glass, Snap Spectacles, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, and so on — Apple was quietly observing. As usual, they showed up fashionably late to the party with a massive leap forward that feels almost as big as its price tag.
I don't know why people are so worried about it ruining our lives, though. Despite the viral images of influencers wandering the streets in ski goggles, it’s poised mostly to disrupt work and TV. Right now I'm sitting in an uncomfortable chair in front of two monitors and a phone. Would doing this in goggles be abandoning physical reality any more than I already do?
Obviously I’d take the goggles off before interacting with someone. And I certainly wouldn’t wear it walking down the street or at the coffee shop. Maybe we can abandon the idea that people want to wear this all day? Let’s lose the creepy little digital eyes that project on the front. Who’s taking this thing to a party other than Bay Area tech influencers?
Wait, are we still debating whether VR is going to ruin our lives? Really? We had the same conversation in the 90s around early head-mounted displays, The Lawnmower Man and Nintendo’s Virtual Boy. The technology is so much better now, sure, but we’re not about to upload our consciousness to the Matrix. In the past 30 years, mixed reality companies still haven’t found a use case for everyday people. The only augmented reality app that took off was Pokemon GO, likely because it didn’t ask you to strap a screen to your face.
Every time a genuine innovation gets launched, the media explodes in polarized hype with doomsday scenarios and promises of global transformation. I admit, I don’t have a crystal ball, but it’s clear our actual future will flow between these extremes. It’s not unlike how we struggle to thread the needle integrating tech into our personal lives: wellness influencers are becoming anti-tech while professionals want to accelerate into the singularity.
We really do suck at balance.
Can we all just agree that a mixed reality headset isn’t going to save or destroy us? And yes, AI is getting better at digital conversation and image generation than we ever thought possible. That doesn’t mean SkyNet is going to launch nukes or that we’re all going to quit our jobs and live in abundance. It means we need to learn new tools, be more careful about scams and deepfakes, and pay close attention to how this stuff is transforming the job market.
While the tech media projects into science-fantasy, we’re missing opportunities to pressure use cases that make sense and mitigate unintended consequences.
We’re so lost in sci-fi future scenarios that we can’t seem to focus on what’s possible today and how to harness that for good. We’re so stuck pontificating about sentient artificial intelligence, spacefaring civilizations, and decentralized financial systems that actual consequences get drowned out of the conversation.
In the near term, ChatGPT just might dethrone the search engine while we wrestle with intellectual property laws and disinformation. Maybe Bitcoin will transform cybersecurity as the blockchain goes in-house with major financial institutions. And I’d say Vision Pro has a chance at detaching specific kinds of knowledge workers even further from their bodies, making them more productive and less well.
While the tech media projects into science-fantasy, we’re missing opportunities to pressure use cases that make sense and mitigate unintended consequences. Instead, more and more of us are rolling our eyes and checking out. Especially kids. I mean, that’s what kids do, right? There’s nothing more human than rejecting what your parents thought was cool.
Maybe my son’s generation will finally get bored of all this hype. I imagine him and his friends reacting to new gadgets the way we react to new cars. Insiders and aficionados follow the updates, but most are just trying to get from point A to point B. I still drive a car, but I don’t have a heart attack or declare the second coming every time the automotive industry puts out a press release for a new SUV. After a century of driving, we finally realize we should have been talking about emissions all along.
I hope when Generation Alpha sees a headline asking if the latest tech will save or destroy us, they’ll think to themselves “nope” and just move on to a more nuanced perspective. And instead of obsessing over the incremental tweaks to their shiny new iGadget 23 Plus Pro, they’ll use it skillfully without talking about it so much, except maybe discussing its impact on mental health, inequality, and the environment.