The first season of Black MirrorCharlie Brooker’s series that changed the way we talk about technology, ends with one of the most appreciated episodes of the entire work (and in fact it is among those most loved by Italian Tech): is called Dangerous memories and tells of a future in which every individual has a chip in their brain that allows them to Cast memories on any screen. A story of those left in the imagination, which analyzes the impact of this technology on interpersonal relationships.
It sounds a bit cliché, but last October 2nd many couldn’t help but think of this episode of Black Mirror, when a company called Rewind AI has unveiled the Rewind Pendant. To put it simply, it is a sort of necklace designed to record the audio of each conversation and then store it on your smartphone. This would allow, according to the producers, to have “personalized AI at your disposal based on what the user actually saw, said or heard”.
Small step back: Rewind AI is one of the many companies born in this period of explosion of generative artificial intelligence. It’s a chatbot which you can give access to the screen of your device: thanks to this, it records everything the user does and becomes a sort of artificial secretary.
Now, the idea is to transport this model into physical space, even if the project is in a completely embryonic stage: there is only an idea and the possibility of pre-ordering at the modest price of 59 dollars. There is already no shortage of controversies about privacy on social networks. Second Dan Siroker, CEO of Rewind AI, confidentiality should be guaranteed by an opt-in system, whereby you can register only after a certain formula; or by archiving simple summaries and not the original recordings.
Towards the metaverse What changes between virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality by Emanuele Capone 18 January 2023
Wow! Over 3M views on social media and 3,177 preorders and growing! Thank you!!!
Here’s the answer to the question: how can we prevent people from being recorded without their consent?
These are the kind of features the device in that Black Mirror episode should have had! pic.twitter.com/IOsdf5EANt
— Dan Siroker (@dsiroker) October 4, 2023
From OpenAI to Meta: the race for the next AI device
The story of Rewind is a way to tell the race to build the first device based on generative artificial intelligence. In short, to transform what was born as software into hardware.
He is trying, among others, Humanea startup led by Imran Chaudhri, formerly of Apple, and financed among others by Sam Altman, who during Paris Fashion Week showed the AI Pin for the first time. It is a sort of pin that attaches to clothes, with a projector that makes an interface appear on a hand or on any other surface: It is – the company explained – a wearable, connected and intelligent devicewhich uses sensors that enable contextual and environmental computing interactions.”
Is exactly Ambient computing seems to be one of the keys to the post-smartphone era. That is, to put it in other words, devices (perhaps wearable) capable of seeing and interpreting physical space in real time, which can answer questions, process images and increase the surrounding space thanks to artificial intelligence.
He’s thinking about it too Metawhich announced the presence of an AI-powered chatbot in the new version of Ray-Ban Stories glasses. Above all, they would be working on a device of this kind too OpenAI e Jony Ivethe designer behind iPhone, Mac and iPod, which for over a year now it has stopped any type of collaboration with Apple. At the moment there would be little concrete, just some chat between Altman and Ive and the request for approximately $1 billion in financing from SoftBank.
In short, it is still early to see anything concrete. However, there is a clear directionand generative artificial intelligence could soon become the path to surpassing the smartphone.