By Cody Pallo
Always on, everyday, Augmented Reality glasses will influence the very future of humanity's governance, not just what looks “cool” in the mirror. By applying common sense in an unconventional way, it will seem obvious enough that most may wonder how they missed it.
Let’s say future AR glasses are connected to Super Computers in the cloud, with powerful Machine Learning services, not capable of being held in such small form factors? These computers could quantify the actions in our daily lives from childhood to old age and give us statistical feedback and recommendations for bettering our lives. They would designate, on a list of potential choices, the routes which enable better future outcomes for variables such as; long term, medium term, and short term goals, with priority for life or death and our social responsibilities first.
The technologies would be much like what is used in autonomous vehicles, reading and responding to situations in our environment. Also, the technology that recommends ads for us, by analyzing the context of every social and media interaction. Instead of assisting us by taking responsibility for us though, as with driving and prompting us to buy things in externally compelling ways, they would enhance our internal decision making abilities instead.
Say you are young and decide you want to be an Astronaut. This app may tell you which on a list of classes you’re thinking of attending may better help you understand flight or maybe suggest that exercising in the morning would help increase stamina more than other hours of the day. This may be based on traffic conditions and weather for example. Simultaneously, it may help you decide if being an Astronaut is even for you at all and what other alternatives there may be for you to choose from, day to day. In this way, our present would be better used for achieving the goals we want in life. This would maximize what little time we have here on earth.
Of course life will always have difficult unknowns, If computers gave each and every one of us a better way to gauge where to put our resources and energy and everyone of us had a better shot at living longer healthier lives, would that be a positive development though?
What if our glasses told of potential dangers ahead, or ways to attain grandiose levels of power or wealth? What if the choices being made by the wearer were more often against the law, than not? Maybe, we are looking at more extreme bets to beat the odds by more disadvantaged people. When someone knows their life is nearly on the line or will be less advantaged in some way, in advance, how can you expect some not to act irrationally and step out of accepted norms, say, if it looks like “Game Over” for them in the worst case scenario. It seems in its current state, our Government and Economy would not able to handle such an immediate transition to this kind of technology. Maybe a reason we see push back for the Metaverse and it’s incredible assortment of potential use cases.
Yet, if we were to forfeit our privacy, the Government could potentially invest resources into a central nervous system chain of authority. Where, if you’re getting dangerously close to death, or off track legally in some way, it is seen and everything that can possibly be done in the immediate environment will be. Maybe there would be an alert when people are making blatantly illegal decisions, that could be corrected with some sort of intervention by professionals, for example. If our communities were tasked with being “emergency caretakers” in a way, this may cut down on a need for as many paid officers on the streets. Maybe not in federal reserves or remote observers who handle communities at large, perhaps less direct interference with day to day physical life, though.
Just imagine the good people would do, if we knew everything to improve our life for the better was being done in our best interest. Maybe it would equalize crime and extreme inequalities. Maybe it would convince us to pursue the idea of “fitness” over “profits.” Or maybe half of us will become servants, while the other half become ridiculously powerful. The future of a technology like this is worth some serious forethought, before it becomes available, it could essentially change the entire course of humanity, our governance, and economy.
Many believe that systems rarely have our best interests in mind, especially when we see inequality and unhappiness in our lives, everywhere we look. Yet, it’s possible that if we are discontent and can do something about it, we may, as a result, all live in a much better, more just, and equal world than we do now.