Our Guest Cathy Hackl Discusses
How Spatial Tech Will Change Your Reality Forever
Listen
Is the Metaverse dead? Why is #OpenAI building jewelry? What happens when AI becomes more emotionally present than people?
Today on Digital Disruption, we鈥檙e joined by CEO of Future Dynamics and author, Cathy Hackl.
Cathy is a globally recognized tech and gaming executive, futurist, and keynote speaker specializing in spatial computing, AI, virtual worlds, and gaming platform strategy. She is the co-CEO of Future Dynamics, a spatial computing and AI solutions firm, and a top LinkedIn tech voice. Known as the 鈥淕odmother of the Metaverse,鈥 she created the Tech Intimacy Scale and is currently researching the intersection of AI, love, and relationships. Cathy has held leadership roles at Amazon Web Services, Magic Leap, and HTC VIVE, and has guided major brands like Nike, Walmart, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, and Clinique through their emerging tech and gaming strategies. She has spoken at events hosted by Harvard Business School, MIT, CES, SXSW, and the World Economic Forum. Named one of Ad Age鈥檚 Leading Women of 2023 and featured on Forbes Latam鈥檚 cover for its 100 Most Powerful Women issue, Hackl is also listed among Vogue Business's 100 Innovators. She hosts Adweek鈥檚 TechMagic podcast and contributes to Vogue Singapore. In 2022, she made history as the first human to ring the NASDAQ opening bell both physically and in avatar form on live TV.
Cathy Hackl sits down with Geoff Nielson for an honest conversation about where technology is headed and what鈥檚 really happening with spatial computing, AI hardware, and the future of human connection. Cathy unpacks the evolution of the metaverse and why she believes we鈥檙e moving toward something bigger: the spatial web. She shares her first-hand experience with Google Beam, a revolutionary 3D communication technology that doesn鈥檛 require a headset. This episode dives into OpenAI鈥檚 push into hardware, why it鈥檚 a data play, and what that means for your privacy. Emotional technologies like Apple Vision Pro and what they mean for memory, grief, and connection, and the future of dating and relationships in a world filled with AI agents and romantic chatbots.
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Hey, everyone.
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I'm super excited to be sitting down
with Cathy Hackl
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She has a reputation
as the godmother of the metaverse.
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And for being a leading thinker anywhere.
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Technology is coming out
of traditional devices like phones
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and entering our physical reality,
or even creating a whole new one.
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What's cool about Cathy
is that she has a behind the curtain view
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of some of the most cutting edge tech
being developed around the world.
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Look, I'll be honest, I'm a big metaverse
skeptic myself, and I've actually
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gotten on stage tell thousands of leaders
that I think the whole thing is B.S..
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I have to get this off my chest.
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I think that the metaverse is bullshit.
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I want to ask her
if I'm getting something wrong
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or I'm just looking in the wrong place.
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I want to know when
and how emerging technologies are going
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to enter our lives and our workplaces,
and what we need to do to be ready.
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Let's find out.
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Hey, Cathy,
thanks so much for joining today.
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I wanted to jump right in
and ask a little bit about,
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you know, that this area of space
that we traditionally
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call spatial computing,
the metaverse, extended reality.
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It feels like it's kind of growing
and changing these days.
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And there's been certainly
some exciting announcements in this space
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in the last handful of days and weeks.
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Has the way you think about it changed?
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And you know, what's
kind of most exciting to you right now?
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Yeah. I think it's an ever evolving space.
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It's interesting,
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cause a lot of people come to me and say
the metaverse is dead, right?
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in tech circles
as the godmother of the metaverse.
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I get that all the time.
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And I'm like, well,
the metaverse wasn't really here yet.
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it. So you can't kill something
that doesn't exist.
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It's more the hype, right? The off.
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What has changed for me,
I think, is some things haven't changed.
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I think a lot of what
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a lot of what I've learned
throughout the years working at companies
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like HTC Vive,
which did VR headsets, and Magic Leap,
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which did, you know, one of the earliest
spatial computing, computers out there.
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And I've got one right behind me
for anyone watching on, on video.
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What I learned in those companies
has not changed, which is the convergence
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of physical and virtual
that we're kind of gearing towards.
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That has not changed.
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I think maybe it's the way it's
being created or developed or the
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the importance of AI
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that future.
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I think
that has definitely been accelerated,
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or it was something that I thought about,
but obviously over the last few years
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has become the number one topic.
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So I think that's evolved.
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I will say the term metaverse,
even for me, has changed
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in the sense that I feel like
some people are maybe moving away
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from the term metaverse
in some ways to spatial web, more of that
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specialized web, a web, you know,
that expands into the physical world.
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And I know
we're going to talk more about this.
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I think what I'm seeing more people,
not more people, but more people
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starting to say, okay, maybe,
maybe the term isn't metaverse
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and maybe it's spatial web,
just like the information superhighway
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wasn't the right word.
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use internet or web now.
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So, so I think that there is that kind of
maybe those changes happening
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in kind of how we talk about this
potential future state.
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Cool.
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So let's maybe talk about
some of the emerging technologies
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that that have been announced recently.
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I'm thinking about things like,
you know, Google Beam, like XR, like,
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I don't know if it's actually pronounced
IO or IO.
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I guess I should have read up on that,
but, what what are those like?
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Can you maybe quickly just walk us through
what each of those technologies
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is and, you know, your
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excitement level and, you know,
kind of outlook for each of them.
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So with Google Beam, which used to be
called Google's Project Starlight.
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I actually got a demo of it
a couple of years ago.
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And to explain to people and I'm
going to try to explain to folks in words
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what it is. Right.
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It is pretty much a system where you,
where you're able to kind of have
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a communications with someone
that's not with you in the same place,
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but you see them in 3D
and in volumetric form.
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But there's no headset, right?
There's no headset.
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It's it's through. I and through cameras.
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So my experience was I walked into a room
and I sat behind a table.
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And in front of me is this,
like this screen of sorts?
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And I guess there's multiple cameras
and everything, but all of a sudden
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someone else sits across from me
in this virtual screen of sorts.
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But it's not a flat screen in the sense
that I'm actually able to see depth.
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And I'm actually able to see them in 3D,
Right.
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your brain and your eyes
a second to kind of, whoa, okay,
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I'm not wearing a headset. I'm
seeing this person in 3D.
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And there is an AI component
of how they're doing this.
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But you have this experience.
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And I think the biggest thing for me
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is it felt like Star Trek,
like something like from Star Trek, right?
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It felt kind of like, wow, we're really
enabling this type of communication.
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What impressed me the most, Jeff, was that
when I had that, Google beam, now,
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I guess demo is how how
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how realistic things looked, right?
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I could almost see their paws,
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Like, it was really great definition.
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And then they had an apple and I remember
them extending the apple towards me
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in my initial reaction as a human is
I will want to grab the apple.
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Of course I can't because it's virtual.
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But that kind of,
that kind of was the moment for me
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that I said, this is powerful technology.
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And whether it whether
whether it's something that, you know,
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we have in our homes
or whether it's something that's enabled
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through different devices,
or you might have people
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using a Google Beam
and headsets at the same time.
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I don't know what it's going to look like.
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It looked to me like
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one of the ways that we're we're going
to communicate as humans in the future.
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So that's where Google Beam.
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You asked me, also, do you want to talk
about some of the headsets and Well,
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let's let's just.
While we're on Google Beam.
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Because I don't want to lose track of it.
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How much
in your mind is this kind of a tech demo?
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And it'll stay a tech demo versus
do you think there's actually,
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you know, commercial applications?
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Here is the I guess, the hardware
infrastructure are going to be viable
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for people to have these things, you know,
in their homes or in their offices.
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Well, maybe potentially if it's smaller,
it is still I mean, the demo that I got
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is still a pretty big set up, Yeah.
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think it's small. It could be very useful.
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I think for like fashion brands,
for example,
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this is where my mind went
when I saw it was, you know, the apple.
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But then I was like, my gosh,
if I am buying jewelry
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or I'm buying something
where I want to see the texture,
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I want to see it up close and maybe
let's say, let's say I'm in Hong Kong
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and the jewelry I want to buy is in,
you know, in Mexico.
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Let's say
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a way to kind of have that communication
in a better way.
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Or if I am a designer and I am dressing
a star, and I want to show them
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some of these, you know, dresses
in a much more 3D, immersive way.
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So I think that we might have
these devices in certain places.
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I don't know if it's going
be in every home,
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at least for the time being, but
we might have them, in different places.
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I could even see people setting up.
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And this is my mind
going to a lot of the research
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I'm doing on AI technology
and the future of human relationships.
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I could even imagine people setting up
maybe like dating salons
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where they have some of these
and you might be able to meet people
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and meet them in 3D in that virtual form
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before you actually meet them in person,
because they might not be there, you know.
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So, I don't know, it was very to me,
it was very powerful to see someone in 3D
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in that form, in such a, in such a clear
form in front of me, without a headset on.
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That's. That's so cool. And I love
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it. It sounds promising in the sense
that, you know,
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you can just rattle off
potential use cases.
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And that's,
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you know, that's always
an interesting barrier or an interesting
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kind of pressure test for a new technology
is that, you know, something
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where you can say, okay,
you could use it for X, y, z, or,
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you know, and I'll dunk on the metaverse
for a minute.
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But I feel like there was a
there was a time at the metaverse
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where it was just like,
no, trust us, it's going to be good.
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But we can't exactly explain
how you're going to use it.
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Yeah.
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You know, at the end of the day,
I think as humans, we are.
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We live in a 3D world, right?
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We do not live in a flat world.
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all 3D, and we're volumetric.
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So my premise has always been like,
for example, with the dating example, it's
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like we did in 3D.
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text and a
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lot of but like at the end of the day,
you date a human, at least for now.
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And they're in 3D, so why not date in 3D,
those sorts of things.
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So I'm really, really interested
in kind of looking at that.
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My mind also went to like job interviews
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because, you know,
so many decisions are made on a flat zoom
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video of whether you hire someone or not,
if you're not meeting them in person.
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I feel like this could add a level of,
of potential to see someone's personality
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come through or see how do they you know,
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there was a part of me that thought, okay,
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this could be really interesting
for job interviews as well,
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and making a better decision
about who someone is,
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you know,
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in a more 3D form than just a 2D zoom
call.
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So. Right.
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Well it it strikes me as the type of thing
where
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if we're anywhere near being able
to send any number of these out,
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it starts with, okay,
there's special salons or there's special,
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you know, places you go that
have them and people get a feel for them.
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And as the economics change, they,
you know, first entered the enterprise
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and then maybe the enter,
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they enter the home and there's a whole,
you know, kind of 5 to 10 year,
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maybe even more timeline
of how we integrate these into our lives.
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Yeah. And I don't think
it will be just one device.
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I think we'll have multiple devices
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that we go in between
depending on what we want to do. Right.
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But I think that this, this,
whatever this is laying the seeds for
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is part of that future, future
human to human communication state.
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Right.
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And and, you know, I have to ask you,
because you use this face to face,
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what was there any part of you
that experienced it and thought like,
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well, why would I ever take another call
on my phone again?
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Like, why would I ever go back to like it?
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Is there a world if the technology enables
that where it actually,
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you know, almost fully replaces
what we're doing now? Yes.
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And especially when it comes to emotion
and family and people you care about.
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That's one of the moments where I said,
okay, this has potential in that sense.
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And I think that's where a device like
Google Beam or devices like some of these
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newer headsets that are coming
could really be important, right?
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Which is memory preservation or the idea
and the concept of presence of of being
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with someone in kind of the same place,
even if you can't be in the same place.
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I thought that was very powerful.
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There's a lot
of thinking I'm doing right now in a talk
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I'm working on, which is called
The Future of the Family photo.
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Right.
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So anyone listening here, I want you to
think about ten years in the future, 2035.
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What is your family portrait
or your family photo look like?
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Right?
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Does it include potentially a hologram
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of a deceased loved one
that might not be with us?
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Is that possible?
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Is in
the technology is already here right.
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Does that include a robot? Right.
I think of the Jetsons.
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The Jetsons always had Rosie
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of the family. Rosie was always there.
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So so I am.
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I might extends and pushes into
that of like memory preservation.
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And this comes,
I guess, from that Google Beam experience,
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but also from Apple Vision Pro
and some of the devices I've used
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where you're able to relive memories
like I shoot a lot of like let's say
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spatial video, which is video
that has 3D and in depth on my iPhone.
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And then I am able to watch it in
my, in my, Apple Vision Pro.
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So like, I've watched my kids
or I've done videos with my dad
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who's 80, for example,
and I relive them and it it
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there's an emotion that comes through
that is very special.
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So I think that there is something there.
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And I think products
eventually do take off,
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not for technology's sake, but
because they allow us to feel something.
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And the example I give
everyone is Facebook, like my parents.
00;11;31;00 - 00;11;33;12
And I'm like a bigger part of the
of the market.
00;11;33;12 - 00;11;37;15
Didn't enter Facebook until they weren't
like they weren't like going there
00;11;37;15 - 00;11;40;15
because they needed to see kids
of their pictures of the grandkids.
00;11;40;16 - 00;11;41;07
Right.
00;11;41;07 - 00;11;44;17
So so I think that there is some
something here that has to pull
00;11;44;17 - 00;11;48;08
at our heartstrings to make some of this
technology fully mass market.
00;11;49;05 - 00;11;50;20
That's that's really, really interesting.
00;11;50;20 - 00;11;52;02
And I hadn't really thought about it, but.
00;11;52;02 - 00;11;56;04
And I'm, I'm by
no means like a big like AR or VR guy.
00;11;56;04 - 00;12;00;14
But in my own experience, the,
the time I messed with it the most was
00;12;00;14 - 00;12;02;13
I had years and years ago,
I don't remember
00;12;02;13 - 00;12;04;06
it's called like Google Cardboard
or something.
00;12;04;06 - 00;12;05;27
But there was, you know. Yeah, yeah.
00;12;05;27 - 00;12;07;22
And, and I remember the thing
00;12;09;01 - 00;12;12;01
that the memory is emotional
that I remember I could take pictures
00;12;12;01 - 00;12;15;17
of like my parents house
and put it on and like, you're there.
00;12;15;17 - 00;12;17;16
Right.
And it captures that moment in time.
00;12;17;16 - 00;12;20;25
And so it's really interesting
that that you bring that up
00;12;20;25 - 00;12;25;02
as kind of like the use case
because I, I totally buy that.
00;12;25;02 - 00;12;28;11
And I see that being the way that we,
you know, again,
00;12;28;11 - 00;12;31;28
the stress test for where
this technology will work or not work.
00;12;32;19 - 00;12;36;11
And I think especially with AI becoming
becoming more at the forefront.
00;12;36;11 - 00;12;40;03
And everyone's talk about humanoid robots
and dating AIS and all that stuff.
00;12;40;17 - 00;12;43;03
I think human will have a premium.
00;12;43;03 - 00;12;46;15
And I think some of these technologies
will allow us to have that,
00;12;46;15 - 00;12;50;16
you know, that human experience
that we all so crave or most of us do. So.
00;12;50;16 - 00;12;50;24
So yeah,
00;12;50;24 - 00;12;53;24
I think that there is two different forces
happening at the same time here.
00;12;53;26 - 00;12;56;20
You you mentioned briefly Vision
Pro and Vision Pro.
00;12;56;20 - 00;12;59;20
I don't know if this is just my feet
or my sphere, but I feel like
00;13;00;14 - 00;13;03;16
there's been backlash
is probably too strong a word.
00;13;03;16 - 00;13;05;24
But I feel like I've heard some,
some news stories
00;13;05;24 - 00;13;09;25
or some propagated stories
of just how people are asking for refunds
00;13;09;25 - 00;13;12;28
or it hasn't really panned out the way
people thought you know what?
00;13;13;13 - 00;13;17;01
Where are we in the life
cycle of Vision Pro?
00;13;17;02 - 00;13;19;17
Was it, you know,
always just meant to be a tech demo?
00;13;19;17 - 00;13;22;17
And it you know, it's gotten
as far as it's going to go.
00;13;22;18 - 00;13;24;26
Where does that product go from here?
00;13;24;26 - 00;13;26;22
Well I think it it goes further.
00;13;26;22 - 00;13;27;20
But I will tell you this.
00;13;27;20 - 00;13;30;28
I do believe that as a product
this was not a consumer product.
00;13;30;28 - 00;13;33;20
This was a developer's
kit. Let's be very clear.
00;13;33;20 - 00;13;36;20
And granite
they made a huge, you know, Yeah.
00;13;36;23 - 00;13;38;04
from a consumer standpoint.
00;13;38;04 - 00;13;39;18
But you know,
was it a consumer product. No.
00;13;39;18 - 00;13;41;13
Not really I mean, I'm a developer.
00;13;41;13 - 00;13;43;03
I use a device to create things.
00;13;43;03 - 00;13;46;14
It's there's still friction and be able
to create things for the Vision Pro.
00;13;46;14 - 00;13;49;14
It's not something everyone's
gonna be doing, at least not right now.
00;13;49;19 - 00;13;52;29
So so definitely would say
that I don't think that they, you know,
00;13;53;07 - 00;13;56;07
I don't think they, they had like
I don't think they expected to sell
00;13;56;25 - 00;13;58;10
like billions of these.
00;13;58;10 - 00;13;59;09
I think that they, you know,
00;13;59;09 - 00;14;03;09
it was just kind of a very, very Apple
marketing push up to prime the market.
00;14;03;21 - 00;14;05;19
I think personally, that's
what they were trying to do
00;14;05;19 - 00;14;08;28
in the market test the market,
bring something innovative out.
00;14;08;28 - 00;14;10;05
Because, you know,
00;14;10;05 - 00;14;13;07
what else can we do to our phones
and what other cameras can we add to it.
00;14;14;07 - 00;14;14;26
So so I
00;14;14;26 - 00;14;19;19
do think, you know, as we look towards
the future and potentially newer products
00;14;19;19 - 00;14;22;21
that Apple might bring to the market,
we're going to see different versions.
00;14;23;00 - 00;14;24;20
You know, I'm
not saying it will be the Apple Vision
00;14;24;20 - 00;14;28;05
Pro two or something, but I think we will
see bigger like different versions.
00;14;28;14 - 00;14;31;13
At the end of the day,
what all these devices are trying to
00;14;31;13 - 00;14;35;01
do is replace the mobile phone
or give us an option
00;14;35;07 - 00;14;37;29
that might be more immersive
than the mobile phone.
00;14;37;29 - 00;14;38;22
Right.
00;14;38;22 - 00;14;39;29
So yeah.
00;14;39;29 - 00;14;43;27
So it's I don't think Apple Vision
Pro one, is it. Right.
00;14;44;03 - 00;14;46;07
But it is seeded the market.
00;14;46;07 - 00;14;47;15
It's seeded the narrative.
00;14;47;15 - 00;14;50;23
And it's started
kind of that past that path towards this
00;14;50;23 - 00;14;53;23
newer 3D spatial video
spatial audio format.
00;14;53;28 - 00;14;54;22
Right. So?
00;14;54;22 - 00;15;00;12
So, speaking of new devices,
what what is OpenAI up to right now?
00;15;00;13 - 00;15;02;22
You know, they've they've got
this partnership that they announced.
00;15;02;22 - 00;15;05;05
I'll be honest, I don't fully get it.
00;15;05;05 - 00;15;08;12
Like I get I get that
they want to expand into hardware
00;15;08;12 - 00;15;11;20
or into the physical world, but I don't
I don't really get it.
00;15;11;20 - 00;15;13;22
Like, can you shed some light on on
00;15;13;22 - 00;15;16;07
what's going on over there
and how you see it kind of playing out?
00;15;16;07 - 00;15;18;03
Yeah.
So I don't have any insider information.
00;15;18;03 - 00;15;20;16
So first of all,
but I'll tell you what I've noticed.
00;15;20;16 - 00;15;23;02
So I've been tracking this
for almost two years.
00;15;23;02 - 00;15;25;27
So one of the first times
I heard Sam Altman talk about
00;15;25;27 - 00;15;29;09
the future of the smartphone or hardware,
really a hardware conversation
00;15;29;20 - 00;15;33;19
was, Wall Street Tech Live 2023.
00;15;34;02 - 00;15;36;28
That's as early as I heard him talk
about hardware, and it's stuck with me.
00;15;36;28 - 00;15;39;11
And I was like, let me let me hear this.
00;15;39;11 - 00;15;44;22
So, then earlier, earlier in 2025,
there was news that they had filed patents
00;15;44;22 - 00;15;48;00
for smart jewelry for smart glasses,
VR headsets,
00;15;48;00 - 00;15;49;16
a whole bunch of different things. Right.
00;15;49;16 - 00;15;53;00
And I wrote a lot of articles in Forbes
and also for the World Economic Forum
00;15;53;00 - 00;15;57;22
about how the hardware is critical
for the development of the newer models.
00;15;58;01 - 00;15;58;29
And whoever owns
00;15;58;29 - 00;16;02;01
the hardware owns the data
that is going to train the newer models.
00;16;02;10 - 00;16;05;09
What I mean by
that is that this is a strategic play.
00;16;05;09 - 00;16;07;23
This is not just about hardware,
right? Right.
00;16;07;23 - 00;16;09;00
Now what you have are
00;16;09;00 - 00;16;12;15
is generative AI, large language models
that are trained on language, right.
00;16;12;20 - 00;16;15;05
Whether it's video,
whether it's audio, whatever it is.
00;16;15;05 - 00;16;15;18
Right.
00;16;15;18 - 00;16;18;19
But it's mostly created on
it's mostly trained on audio and things
00;16;18;19 - 00;16;21;11
that already exist
that have already been created right.
00;16;22;15 - 00;16;25;15
In order for us to go from generative
AI into agent
00;16;25;22 - 00;16;28;29
AI and then into physically AI,
which is kind of the
00;16;29;05 - 00;16;33;03
the curve that Jensen Wang from in media
shows us every time he does a keynote.
00;16;33;13 - 00;16;36;28
In order for us to get there,
you are going to need new architectures
00;16;36;28 - 00;16;37;28
and new models.
00;16;37;28 - 00;16;40;28
And some of those new models
are, for example, vision action models.
00;16;41;02 - 00;16;44;13
So models that are scanning the world,
the physical world
00;16;44;24 - 00;16;49;10
constantly in real time,
creating a virtual version of the world
00;16;49;10 - 00;16;53;22
like a mesh of the virtual world
that is going to allow these devices
00;16;53;22 - 00;16;55;20
to understand
the world, put content in front of us.
00;16;55;20 - 00;16;58;20
So it's going to allow more robots
to navigate the world,
00;16;58;23 - 00;17;00;07
more autonomous vehicles.
00;17;00;07 - 00;17;01;20
There's this whole other component.
00;17;01;20 - 00;17;05;12
So whoever owns
the hardware is going to be able
00;17;05;12 - 00;17;09;11
to kind of own the data or have access
to the data to train these newer models.
00;17;09;20 - 00;17;11;18
So this is a vision towards the future.
00;17;11;18 - 00;17;14;02
And the only way that OpenAI
can eventually compete
00;17;14;02 - 00;17;17;15
with an Apple or a meta or any of these is
if they have a hardware play.
00;17;17;26 - 00;17;19;07
And I think a lot of people miss that.
00;17;19;07 - 00;17;22;07
Like they don't understand that
this is a hardware play in that sense.
00;17;22;07 - 00;17;24;26
And the modes,
the mode around the software,
00;17;24;26 - 00;17;27;26
the mode around the Lem, per
se that we use today
00;17;28;08 - 00;17;31;08
is getting smaller by the day, right?
00;17;31;12 - 00;17;33;18
So where
where are the bigger opportunities?
00;17;33;18 - 00;17;34;02
Where are we going to be?
00;17;34;02 - 00;17;36;26
The larger modes will be in hardware
because hardware is hard.
00;17;36;26 - 00;17;38;19
That's the same of anyone
that works in hardware.
00;17;38;19 - 00;17;40;00
We all know that
00;17;40;00 - 00;17;42;28
the hardware is going to determine
how some of these newer models go,
00;17;42;28 - 00;17;45;05
how they're trained, the data
they have access to,
00;17;45;05 - 00;17;47;27
and then who gets to put content in
front of you, all these sorts of things.
00;17;47;27 - 00;17;48;18
Right.
00;17;48;18 - 00;17;51;07
So whoever owns the hardware
is going to have an upper hand.
00;17;51;07 - 00;17;53;17
That's why meta, for example,
is in their hardware era.
00;17;54;19 - 00;17;57;18
So I hope that I hope,
Jeff, I hope that that that made sense.
00;17;57;18 - 00;18;00;22
I know it makes
No it does, it does, it does.
00;18;00;22 - 00;18;03;15
But I want to dig into it
a little bit more because you answered,
00;18;03;15 - 00;18;07;00
you answered half of the question
which is the half of like
00;18;07;00 - 00;18;08;21
what's in it for OpenAI.
00;18;08;21 - 00;18;10;01
What's in it for Sam.
00;18;10;01 - 00;18;12;05
I get what's in it for Sam.
I get what's in it for OpenAI.
00;18;12;05 - 00;18;14;15
I get the competitive part.
But what's in it for me?
00;18;14;15 - 00;18;15;12
What's in it for you?
00;18;15;12 - 00;18;18;13
Like, I understand why
they want to be in hardware.
00;18;18;25 - 00;18;21;09
Why should I get their device?
00;18;21;09 - 00;18;24;09
Why is consumers,
should we be excited about this?
00;18;30;17 - 00;18;32;23
Yeah.
00;18;32;23 - 00;18;33;16
different thing.
00;18;33;16 - 00;18;36;16
Our data are,
you know, we became the product kind
00;18;37;27 - 00;18;38;27
I don't know what's in it for us.
00;18;38;27 - 00;18;41;29
The only thing I can imagine
here is a couple things I would say.
00;18;42;11 - 00;18;46;27
The fact that we're starting to all use
AI so much on a constant basis
00;18;47;13 - 00;18;52;10
that maybe that human,
that human technology collaboration
00;18;52;10 - 00;18;55;21
that we're building becomes something
that we have to that we do every day,
00;18;55;21 - 00;18;58;27
and then it's going to be easier to do it
in some other type of hardware.
00;18;58;27 - 00;18;59;13
Right?
00;18;59;13 - 00;19;02;26
I don't always want to be talking to my,
my phone or to my computer.
00;19;02;26 - 00;19;04;13
It's some other device that I can talk to
00;19;04;13 - 00;19;06;14
that can give me more information
in real time.
00;19;06;14 - 00;19;07;26
But the physical world,
00;19;07;26 - 00;19;12;06
so what could be in it for us
would be faster access to AI.
00;19;12;12 - 00;19;15;29
AI that understands and sees the world
and becomes a lot more useful to us.
00;19;16;20 - 00;19;20;11
That's potentially what could be,
you know, an incentive to consumers.
00;19;20;26 - 00;19;23;01
There's a whole question about privacy,
right?
00;19;23;01 - 00;19;24;03
Is there even privacy?
00;19;24;03 - 00;19;26;28
Like, I'm
a guinea pig for all of these devices.
00;19;26;28 - 00;19;28;14
I've got my iris scan by.
00;19;28;14 - 00;19;33;15
I don't know how many devices like to me,
like I or my hand like my face scanned
00;19;33;15 - 00;19;37;02
by so much facial recognition,
like there's a part of me that feels like.
00;19;37;28 - 00;19;41;08
I mean, I've given in my perspective
because I am a guinea pig
00;19;41;08 - 00;19;42;18
and I try all these devices.
00;19;42;18 - 00;19;45;17
I feel like maybe I've given up
a lot of my privacy already.
00;19;45;17 - 00;19;47;24
It doesn't mean everyone should, right?
00;19;47;24 - 00;19;51;11
But but there is that question like,
what is in it for for the consumer?
00;19;51;11 - 00;19;52;17
I'm not sure yet.
00;19;52;17 - 00;19;56;17
I'm not sure what exactly
other than potentially being able to,
00;19;56;23 - 00;19;58;12
you know, being able
to to do certain things.
00;19;58;12 - 00;20;02;09
I do think that if, if Alexa
and this is the joke, if robots,
00;20;02;10 - 00;20;05;18
you know, if Alexa can do my laundry
and Alexa can, you know, do my dishes,
00;20;06;01 - 00;20;09;01
then maybe it is
something that I want in my house.
00;20;09;04 - 00;20;11;00
Yeah. Well. And it's such, And I.
00;20;11;00 - 00;20;14;25
I swear I didn't plan this,
but it's such an interesting, You know,
00;20;14;25 - 00;20;18;04
it's such an interesting comparison
with, you know, Google Beam,
00;20;18;04 - 00;20;20;24
which we just talked about
because this, this is a technology
00;20;20;24 - 00;20;25;08
where there's an emotional reaction
and it's so present and we're rattling off
00;20;25;08 - 00;20;29;01
use cases and then, you know, we switch to
we switch to OpenAI and we're like,
00;20;29;04 - 00;20;30;01
I don't know, I don't know.
00;20;30;01 - 00;20;31;17
It's like it's good for Sam.
00;20;31;17 - 00;20;33;17
Like,
but I don't know what we'll use it for.
00;20;33;17 - 00;20;37;16
So, it's it's very interesting
to have these completely different
00;20;37;16 - 00;20;39;11
ends of the spectrum here.
00;20;39;11 - 00;20;41;22
I'll give you a comment here
that I think is very important.
00;20;41;22 - 00;20;42;25
Very relevant.
00;20;42;25 - 00;20;45;18
The data that has been coming out
is that a lot of people
00;20;45;18 - 00;20;49;04
are using LMS,
like ChatGPT, for example, for
00;20;50;05 - 00;20;51;25
advice,
00;20;51;25 - 00;20;53;02
maybe companionship.
00;20;53;02 - 00;20;55;16
A lot of people are using it
to get advice for dating.
00;20;55;16 - 00;20;57;02
Some people are dating the AI.
00;20;57;02 - 00;21;02;00
You know, but what people forget here
is that you, at the end of the day,
00;21;02;00 - 00;21;05;09
especially if you are seeking it
for therapy, which is concerning to me.
00;21;06;23 - 00;21;09;00
You are talking to a corporation.
00;21;09;00 - 00;21;11;10
You are not talking to a friend, right?
00;21;11;10 - 00;21;14;14
This is a corporation that owns the LM,
and the
00;21;14;14 - 00;21;18;03
LM is programed to agree with you
unless you ask it not to.
00;21;18;10 - 00;21;19;17
You know, unless you're like,
00;21;19;17 - 00;21;22;17
set the parameter that you want it to be,
you know, contradict your own stuff.
00;21;23;06 - 00;21;24;13
And that's what I think people forget.
00;21;24;13 - 00;21;26;16
It's like you're not talking to a friend
here.
00;21;26;16 - 00;21;28;04
What you're talking to here
00;21;28;04 - 00;21;31;20
is a corporation,
a general purpose large language model.
00;21;32;04 - 00;21;34;09
Right.
And I people think people lose that.
00;21;34;09 - 00;21;36;05
So your question is,
I think, very relevant
00;21;36;05 - 00;21;39;22
at this moment in time where
so many people are going to it for advice.
00;21;40;15 - 00;21;42;24
was actually talking to a friend
about this over dinner the other day,
00;21;42;24 - 00;21;47;07
which is, you know, I first of all, I'm
a huge advocate of of mental health.
00;21;47;07 - 00;21;50;06
I'm a huge advocate of people
getting therapy and getting support.
00;21;50;06 - 00;21;53;06
And what my friend said is
when she talks to a therapist,
00;21;53;15 - 00;21;57;15
you know, it's confidential,
but it's not a completely closed system
00;21;57;15 - 00;22;01;17
because the therapist has notes,
you know, on their computer in a notebook,
00;22;02;02 - 00;22;03;17
but that that's the extent of it, right?
00;22;03;17 - 00;22;06;20
Like someone could break into their office
or into their system and hack that.
00;22;07;17 - 00;22;11;03
When you start moving that to like,
okay, now I'm talking now.
00;22;11;03 - 00;22;13;10
Now Google has access to that.
00;22;13;10 - 00;22;14;22
Now OpenAI has access to that.
00;22;14;22 - 00;22;18;14
And they're like almost explicitly,
I would say, using that
00;22;18;14 - 00;22;19;29
to train their systems.
00;22;19;29 - 00;22;22;15
Like, what does that mean?
00;22;22;15 - 00;22;27;09
And what is the potential downside for you
as an individual there?
00;22;28;06 - 00;22;30;19
All of this is data, right? It's data.
00;22;30;19 - 00;22;31;20
the data that you're putting in there.
00;22;31;20 - 00;22;35;05
If the if if the alarm knows
that you have broken up with
00;22;35;05 - 00;22;38;14
John and you're really sad, like
00;22;38;14 - 00;22;42;18
it starts to be like, okay, you know,
maybe you start getting ads for Match.com.
00;22;42;26 - 00;22;45;00
I mean, this is all about selling data,
right?
00;22;45;00 - 00;22;46;25
And Yeah. get from you?
00;22;46;25 - 00;22;50;21
And then when you add AI agents into it,
that's the next level.
00;22;50;21 - 00;22;54;27
I mean, if your agent knows that you're
sad because you broke up or you,
00;22;54;27 - 00;22;57;27
you know, or something like that, like,
is it going to start?
00;22;58;06 - 00;23;01;07
Is it going to start shopping for things
to make you feel better that you might not
00;23;01;07 - 00;23;04;07
need,
like Wally Wally type of situation, right.
00;23;04;13 - 00;23;06;20
I don't need the Slurpee,
but it makes me feel good.
00;23;06;20 - 00;23;10;02
So so I think that there
is this other layer that worries me
00;23;10;26 - 00;23;14;15
when we're putting so much information,
personal information into these devices.
00;23;14;24 - 00;23;17;06
Well, not devices into these lens, right?
00;23;17;06 - 00;23;21;01
When there is no HIPAA, there's no
like there's nothing regulating this.
00;23;21;14 - 00;23;21;28
Right.
00;23;21;28 - 00;23;25;12
And, I went to Esther Esther
Peralez, sessions live
00;23;25;12 - 00;23;27;04
and there was
a big conversation around AI,
00;23;27;04 - 00;23;29;01
and it was mostly therapists and coaches,
00;23;29;01 - 00;23;31;08
and that was a big
the big question is like
00;23;31;08 - 00;23;34;18
our our patients are all going to ChatGPT
for advice.
00;23;35;00 - 00;23;36;06
We don't get to see it.
00;23;36;06 - 00;23;37;04
We don't necessarily
00;23;37;04 - 00;23;40;04
think that everything it's saying
is the right course of action.
00;23;40;13 - 00;23;42;18
They're finding value in it.
How do you merge those?
00;23;42;18 - 00;23;43;25
How do you how do you
00;23;43;25 - 00;23;48;00
how do you marry those two
so that there is ethics and privacy?
00;23;48;00 - 00;23;50;03
In some ways
when it comes to mental health,
00;23;50;03 - 00;23;52;07
but also that people don't
get access to something,
00;23;52;07 - 00;23;54;00
you know, when they might not be able
to afford a therapist.
00;23;54;00 - 00;23;57;11
So it's kind of like a I mean, someone's
got to come up with a really good
00;23;57;11 - 00;24;00;13
solution here
at some point that allows for both.
00;24;00;23 - 00;24;02;18
Well and you know, not.
00;24;02;18 - 00;24;05;00
Not to try
and get the silver bullet answer.
00;24;05;00 - 00;24;05;24
But I mean, do you
00;24;05;24 - 00;24;09;21
do you have some overarching guidance
that you give to people around
00;24;09;21 - 00;24;13;09
how they should
and shouldn't be using, generative AI?
00;24;14;08 - 00;24;14;16
Yeah.
00;24;14;16 - 00;24;16;24
When it comes to when it comes
to that personal advice part,
00;24;16;24 - 00;24;19;24
like if it's for business, you
every corporation should have,
00;24;19;28 - 00;24;22;22
you know, should have their own baselines
on how to use it, etc., what you can
00;24;22;22 - 00;24;23;27
and can input. Right.
00;24;23;27 - 00;24;26;25
I think for a, for personal perspective,
it's just like what
00;24;26;25 - 00;24;29;25
I tell my kids is that when you're doing
social work, you're doing photos.
00;24;30;01 - 00;24;33;09
Nothing gets a race
just because you think someone deleted it.
00;24;33;09 - 00;24;36;04
No, this is going to live on forever
if you, you know, potentially. Right.
00;24;36;04 - 00;24;39;04
Just because it's snap disappears
doesn't really disappear.
00;24;39;04 - 00;24;40;12
So same concept.
00;24;40;12 - 00;24;42;22
You are talking to a corporation.
00;24;42;22 - 00;24;44;14
What you are sharing.
00;24;44;14 - 00;24;46;29
You know, you have to be very mindful
of what it is that you're sharing.
00;24;46;29 - 00;24;48;28
It has memory if you don't want it to.
00;24;48;28 - 00;24;51;08
Remember this is something
you have to change, right?
00;24;51;08 - 00;24;53;06
Because it'll continue remembering.
00;24;53;06 - 00;24;56;25
So thinking through that,
I think my biggest advice for some people,
00;24;56;25 - 00;24;58;22
at least the one that I'm using personally
00;24;58;22 - 00;25;00;19
and this is I'm just going to get personal
here,
00;25;00;19 - 00;25;04;16
is, as someone that is recently divorced
and dating
00;25;04;26 - 00;25;09;03
is, I ask the men that I'm seeing to not
use AI in our conversations.
00;25;10;04 - 00;25;13;12
So the I pledge what I call an AI pledge
because a lot of people out there,
00;25;13;12 - 00;25;18;18
the dating world are using AI to craft
these really romantic,
00;25;18;24 - 00;25;23;00
you know, like, how about love bombing
to love bombing through point L using AI.
00;25;23;09 - 00;25;26;10
So I feel like that's something a lot of
people are starting to talk about.
00;25;26;10 - 00;25;31;03
Is not offloading
your difficult conversations to an AI.
00;25;31;03 - 00;25;32;15
Yeah, you can use an AI to kind of help
00;25;32;15 - 00;25;36;10
you try to decipher how to say something,
but don't give me only generated things.
00;25;36;10 - 00;25;38;13
And I've found already friends,
for example,
00;25;38;13 - 00;25;39;27
that were reaching out to me for advice.
00;25;39;27 - 00;25;42;06
I'm like, oh my gosh, Johnny sent me this.
What do you think?
00;25;42;06 - 00;25;42;17
He said?
00;25;42;17 - 00;25;45;29
And I literally said,
look, it's got m dashes everywhere.
00;25;46;05 - 00;25;49;25
What human uses an m dash
to text your boo?
00;25;50;05 - 00;25;53;05
I'm like, this is my big hunch here
is that they use ChatGPT.
00;25;53;12 - 00;25;56;14
And then they went back and looked at the
other text like messages, and I was like,
00;25;57;13 - 00;26;00;07
I hate to
break it to you, but if it does feel to me
00;26;00;07 - 00;26;01;10
that they're using ChatGPT
00;26;01;10 - 00;26;03;04
because I don't
I don't know anyone that knows where
00;26;03;04 - 00;26;06;03
to find the M dash on their phone
when they're texting.
00;26;06;07 - 00;26;08;17
That's I, by the way, I love the text.
00;26;08;17 - 00;26;11;16
I was just a test. Rather
I was. I was just laughing at that.
00;26;11;16 - 00;26;12;25
And while it it's it
00;26;12;25 - 00;26;16;10
and it's interesting because it can do
as you were saying with your friend.
00;26;16;10 - 00;26;18;19
Like it can do a pretty good job
at creating that content.
00;26;18;19 - 00;26;21;03
But at some point
you're going to meet the guy
00;26;21;03 - 00;26;23;10
and they're not going to be able
to hold up their end of the bargain.
00;26;23;10 - 00;26;23;15
Right?
00;26;23;15 - 00;26;26;14
And you're like, oh,
I actually it was just the AI that I like.
00;26;26;14 - 00;26;26;23
Yeah.
00;26;28;08 - 00;26;28;20
and you know
00;26;28;20 - 00;26;31;19
how you talk
in real life are definitely not the same.
00;26;31;24 - 00;26;34;02
Yeah. and I'm already seeing this.
I'll give you just.
00;26;34;02 - 00;26;36;28
I know we're going on a different tangent,
Yeah.
00;26;36;28 - 00;26;39;29
me and very, very, concerning.
00;26;40;08 - 00;26;42;00
I was talking to my teenage daughter,
00;26;42;00 - 00;26;44;24
and she was talking about her friends
who were meeting, you know, their
00;26;44;24 - 00;26;49;05
their kids are dating in Roblox and kids
are, you know, instead of passing a note
00;26;49;05 - 00;26;52;04
in the hallway, those things are done on
Snapchat now, right?
00;26;52;13 - 00;26;54;09
So there's all these things.
00;26;54;09 - 00;26;56;26
And she was telling me about her friend
who was dating someone.
00;26;56;26 - 00;27;00;21
And, it turns out
the kid was younger than he said he was.
00;27;00;26 - 00;27;03;08
So she was in high school.
He was in middle school. She found out she
00;27;04;26 - 00;27;06;29
Yes. don't want to break up with him
00;27;06;29 - 00;27;09;05
because he writes me
these really beautiful messages.
00;27;09;05 - 00;27;10;11
Oh my gosh.
00;27;10;11 - 00;27;12;00
she shows my daughter the messages.
00;27;12;00 - 00;27;15;29
And of course, being my daughter,
she's like, I think that might be I.
00;27;16;11 - 00;27;18;19
So then my daughter shows it to me
and I'm like, deciphering.
00;27;18;19 - 00;27;22;11
And I'm like, no, there's no way,
you know, a middle school boy,
00;27;22;11 - 00;27;27;21
no matter how good he is, is writing
this level of prose on a constant Yeah.
00;27;28;00 - 00;27;30;23
and if, in fact,
this kid was using ChatGPT.
00;27;30;23 - 00;27;33;12
So, I mean, there's already
a lot happening with teenage girls
00;27;33;12 - 00;27;36;12
being manipulated. I'm concerned.
00;27;36;14 - 00;27;37;06
Oh my gosh.
00;27;37;06 - 00;27;37;11
Yeah.
00;27;37;11 - 00;27;40;02
That's like equal parts
funny and, and terrifying.
00;27;40;02 - 00;27;43;02
There. Yeah. Yeah. And and sad as well.
00;27;43;02 - 00;27;47;24
You know, let's, let's maybe zoom out
in terms of just technology in general.
00;27;47;25 - 00;27;50;09
We talked about a few particular
use cases, but,
00;27;50;09 - 00;27;51;08
you know, just in general,
00;27;51;08 - 00;27;53;10
when we think about
how some of these technologies
00;27;53;10 - 00;27;55;07
are starting to intersect,
we're thinking about AI,
00;27;55;07 - 00;27;56;12
we're thinking of Internet of Things.
00;27;56;12 - 00;27;59;24
We're talking about extended
reality, robotics, all that good stuff.
00;28;00;14 - 00;28;03;29
Where are kind of the pockets right now
that are most exciting to you,
00;28;03;29 - 00;28;06;01
or do you see the most promise?
00;28;06;01 - 00;28;09;13
There's several I would say
when it comes to emerging technologies.
00;28;09;13 - 00;28;12;13
I would say there's four for me
that I'm really interested in.
00;28;12;13 - 00;28;15;25
And I'm actually doing some work
with Nokia as a futurist in residence.
00;28;16;15 - 00;28;17;17
So there's four things
00;28;17;17 - 00;28;20;20
that I'm really interested
in, obviously, on the component of AI
00;28;21;21 - 00;28;22;09
is the concept
00;28;22;09 - 00;28;25;09
of expanding AI into the physical world
that we talked about.
00;28;25;09 - 00;28;29;21
I actually just spent about a week,
a little over a week in Japan.
00;28;30;05 - 00;28;34;14
And I actually got to spend
a lot of time with some of the, the, the,
00;28;34;19 - 00;28;38;18
some of the nations in Japan,
some of the Japan's leading roboticists,
00;28;38;26 - 00;28;41;26
like Professor Ishiguro,
which a lot of people know he has like a,
00;28;41;26 - 00;28;44;24
a humanoid robot
that looks just like him,
00;28;44;24 - 00;28;48;26
he's at the forefront of humanoid robots
and kind of having conversations
00;28;49;03 - 00;28;52;03
with him of why people would adopt these
where this is going.
00;28;52;23 - 00;28;55;11
I spent time with another brilliant
roboticist
00;28;55;11 - 00;28;59;05
who's working on creating
extra fingers and limbs for humans.
00;28;59;05 - 00;28;59;12
Right.
00;28;59;12 - 00;29;02;14
Which sounds weird, but once he shows you
what he's doing, you're like, wow, okay,
00;29;02;14 - 00;29;04;22
this could be really interesting
for the future of work.
00;29;04;22 - 00;29;07;11
So really trying to think
00;29;07;11 - 00;29;10;14
through, like, what is the purpose
of a humanoid robot, right?
00;29;10;14 - 00;29;14;25
And especially in a country like Japan,
where you have an aging population, right.
00;29;14;25 - 00;29;16;02
Eventually
they're not going to have enough
00;29;16;02 - 00;29;17;10
young people to kind of help, but like,
00;29;17;10 - 00;29;20;29
there's a whole bunch of things,
there's a lot of loneliness as well.
00;29;21;06 - 00;29;24;13
So thinking through through that
and seeing kind of the good in the bad
00;29;24;13 - 00;29;25;15
there especially,
00;29;25;15 - 00;29;30;16
I think culturally though, in Japan,
from a religious standpoint, I would say,
00;29;31;25 - 00;29;34;25
from a spirituality, spirituality
standpoint,
00;29;34;28 - 00;29;38;03
they do there are,
00;29;38;03 - 00;29;41;08
concepts
that they have about inanimate beings
00;29;41;08 - 00;29;45;02
having a soul where we live,
where we might call a soul in English.
00;29;45;20 - 00;29;49;10
You know, whether it is a statue of Buddha
or whether it's an object or a puppet
00;29;49;17 - 00;29;53;16
like that for them is very, very,
very ingrained in the, in the culturally.
00;29;53;24 - 00;29;57;12
So, so for them, robots have always
been around and they've already accepted
00;29;57;12 - 00;30;00;10
robots, not necessarily as a soul,
but as beings
00;30;00;10 - 00;30;04;04
that might have maybe not sentience,
but there's a different perspective.
00;30;04;04 - 00;30;05;28
Whereas we in the Western world see robots
00;30;05;28 - 00;30;07;22
and we think Terminator most of the time.
00;30;07;22 - 00;30;11;02
I think in, in parts like Japan,
the perspective is different.
00;30;11;02 - 00;30;14;01
So I would say definitely humanoid robots
and find that fascinating.
00;30;14;04 - 00;30;16;05
So. Sorry. Just.
Just before we leave, humanoid robots.
00;30;16;05 - 00;30;17;29
You said
I just want to zoom into something
00;30;17;29 - 00;30;21;13
because you use the phrase when we think
about the purpose of humanoid robots.
00;30;22;05 - 00;30;23;11
Can we unpack that for a second?
00;30;23;11 - 00;30;26;26
Like in your mind,
what is the purpose of humanoid robots?
00;30;26;27 - 00;30;29;27
Like what are the,
you know, the best emerging use cases?
00;30;30;11 - 00;30;32;13
Well I think there's several right there.
00;30;32;13 - 00;30;35;21
There's several short term ones
which could be, long term
00;30;35;21 - 00;30;39;20
care for the elderly when there is a need,
when there is a,
00;30;39;20 - 00;30;43;17
you know, a when there's not enough people
to maybe come and help.
00;30;44;02 - 00;30;46;14
So that was something
that was obviously talked about.
00;30;46;14 - 00;30;47;21
Definitely.
00;30;47;21 - 00;30;51;17
There's also conversations
about humanoid robots for, at work.
00;30;52;13 - 00;30;55;13
I don't know if humanoid robot
is the right form for certain work.
00;30;55;15 - 00;30;58;15
You know, if it's a factory,
it doesn't have to be a humanoid robot.
00;30;58;17 - 00;31;00;15
Why does it have to be in two legs?
00;31;00;15 - 00;31;02;07
There's a whole conversation
there on that.
00;31;02;07 - 00;31;04;25
So. So, yeah, I think that there's uses,
00;31;05;26 - 00;31;08;16
there
are some uses that are kind of more edgy.
00;31;08;16 - 00;31;09;23
I don't necessarily want to go there,
00;31;09;23 - 00;31;12;23
but those are definitely being explored
in Japan.
00;31;14;23 - 00;31;17;04
know, so, so there are different uses.
00;31;17;04 - 00;31;20;26
There was an interesting part
of what Professor Ishiguro
00;31;20;26 - 00;31;22;02
was presenting at the expo.
00;31;22;02 - 00;31;23;25
So I was there at the World Expo,
00;31;23;25 - 00;31;26;25
and he created a whole pavilion
called The Future of Life.
00;31;27;00 - 00;31;30;03
And there was like,
thinking maybe 100 years into the future
00;31;30;03 - 00;31;33;12
and how you might be able
to kind of offload,
00;31;33;13 - 00;31;35;21
your consciousness
eventually into a humanoid robot.
00;31;35;21 - 00;31;37;18
That's obviously
not something we can do right now,
00;31;37;18 - 00;31;38;24
but there are plenty of startups
00;31;38;24 - 00;31;41;24
or companies thinking through
how that might be possible in the future.
00;31;41;25 - 00;31;46;05
So, you know, I don't necessarily
want to be, offload my,
00;31;46;06 - 00;31;47;18
you know, my consciousness
00;31;47;18 - 00;31;51;23
into a humanoid robot, but it could be
a potential future that's ahead of us.
00;31;51;23 - 00;31;54;28
So, so I would say
those are some of the things that that,
00;31;54;28 - 00;31;57;13
that definitely I'm seeing. Right.
00;31;57;13 - 00;32;01;08
And then there's also that idea
and the concept of labor at home, like,
00;32;01;08 - 00;32;02;07
you know, help House help,
00;32;03;17 - 00;32;05;04
The Rosie from the Jetsons.
00;32;05;04 - 00;32;06;06
Yeah.
00;32;06;06 - 00;32;07;06
Yeah.
00;32;07;06 - 00;32;10;06
Yeah.
00;32;10;11 - 00;32;11;20
Cut! Cool.
00;32;11;20 - 00;32;12;27
So sorry I interrupted you there.
00;32;12;27 - 00;32;15;23
What are the last two, cases?
00;32;15;23 - 00;32;17;13
No, I think that That's right.
00;32;17;13 - 00;32;19;16
for humanoid robots for right now,
what I'm Right.
00;32;19;16 - 00;32;22;01
So beyond the humanoid robots,
the next two.
00;32;22;01 - 00;32;25;05
Yeah. say I'm really interested as well.
00;32;25;14 - 00;32;27;23
Well, spatial computing,
that's kind of my background.
00;32;27;23 - 00;32;28;20
That's where I come from.
00;32;28;20 - 00;32;32;14
I'm excited to see that convergence
of physical and virtual, of being able to.
00;32;32;18 - 00;32;36;22
And when I say that, I mean being able
to see digital content in front of you.
00;32;36;22 - 00;32;38;02
So making that virtual layer
00;32;38;02 - 00;32;42;03
that we engage with on our phones
kind of visible in front of you, right?
00;32;42;03 - 00;32;44;07
So eventually being able
to navigate the world
00;32;44;07 - 00;32;48;09
with some type of wearable or device
or whatever it becomes that allows me
00;32;48;09 - 00;32;49;20
to see this digital content around me.
00;32;49;20 - 00;32;50;23
So annotations,
00;32;50;23 - 00;32;54;15
wayfinding, you know, holograms,
all these sorts of things in front of me.
00;32;55;04 - 00;32;57;00
I find that really interesting.
00;32;57;00 - 00;33;01;23
So it's when the world becomes a canvas,
the physical world becomes a canvas,
00;33;01;23 - 00;33;04;25
but also becomes real estate,
which is very scary.
00;33;05;14 - 00;33;06;14
There's
00;33;07;12 - 00;33;08;06
someone ask me the the day.
00;33;08;06 - 00;33;10;18
What keeps you up at night
from a work perspective?
00;33;10;18 - 00;33;13;05
And I said
it does not keep anyone else up at night
00;33;13;05 - 00;33;16;19
or very few people in the world, but
it's the concept of virtual air, right?
00;33;17;05 - 00;33;18;22
Who owns the air around you?
00;33;18;22 - 00;33;21;22
Who owns what's in front of you,
what you can see and within earshot?
00;33;21;28 - 00;33;23;19
Because with these devices
00;33;23;19 - 00;33;26;19
coming in once again, you're like,
why would we use these right?
00;33;27;07 - 00;33;28;03
There's going to be things
00;33;28;03 - 00;33;29;24
that are going to be put in front of you
within eyesight.
00;33;29;24 - 00;33;30;24
You're going to hear things.
00;33;30;24 - 00;33;33;24
So who owns that?
Who regulates that? Right?
00;33;33;28 - 00;33;36;29
I'm talking to governments right now
about that concept of virtual air rights.
00;33;36;29 - 00;33;41;10
Once we have these, you know, once
AI is in the world, you have to start
00;33;41;10 - 00;33;44;25
to create these sanctuaries where nothing
is allowed to be put in front of you.
00;33;44;25 - 00;33;48;12
So so that is a
that's a promising in one way,
00;33;48;12 - 00;33;50;00
because I think there's
going to be a lot of things
00;33;50;00 - 00;33;53;27
that get unlocked, like virtual fashion,
like ways to express ourselves,
00;33;54;04 - 00;33;57;01
being able to, you know, be present
in different places at the same time.
00;33;57;01 - 00;33;59;15
Like, I think there's going to be
a lot of stuff that's unlocked there.
00;33;59;15 - 00;34;02;28
But also there's this other component
of like potential things
00;34;02;28 - 00;34;06;04
that could go really wrong
that we need to get ahead of really soon.
00;34;06;22 - 00;34;10;24
So that's I would say, and then I'm
really interested in space technology.
00;34;10;24 - 00;34;13;09
That's where I've been kind
of spending a little bit of time
00;34;13;09 - 00;34;16;15
over the last couple of years,
doing some really interesting projects
00;34;16;15 - 00;34;17;07
in that space.
00;34;17;07 - 00;34;21;15
But thinking through, you know,
how does space commerce take off?
00;34;21;15 - 00;34;22;18
What does it mean?
00;34;22;18 - 00;34;25;03
You know,
just just thinking through that.
00;34;25;03 - 00;34;27;21
Those are areas
that I'm focused on as well,
00;34;27;21 - 00;34;31;12
where I'm learning, where
I'm kind of becoming more knowledgeable.
00;34;31;12 - 00;34;35;11
And I think a lot of people should be
is quantum not just quantum computing,
00;34;35;11 - 00;34;38;11
but quantum sensing and quantum
communications, which is actually doing
00;34;38;11 - 00;34;42;06
really interesting work in, so, you know,
I'm not an expert by any means.
00;34;42;06 - 00;34;44;02
I do not claim to be,
but it's a place where
00;34;44;02 - 00;34;47;15
I'm spending more and more time
educating myself on what it means.
00;34;47;15 - 00;34;48;22
So, so don't ask me
00;34;48;22 - 00;34;52;18
for any expert advice on this one,
because I'm still, very much a pupil.
00;34;53;11 - 00;34;53;29
Got it.
00;34;53;29 - 00;34;54;09
Got it.
00;34;54;09 - 00;34;56;23
Will all steer clear of,
quantum for today.
00;34;56;23 - 00;34;58;13
So. So maybe maybe coming back
00;34;58;13 - 00;35;02;00
to spatial computing, though,
because this is one, Cathy, that's been
00;35;03;06 - 00;35;04;13
to me, there's been a pattern,
00;35;04;13 - 00;35;08;06
which is we've had and I, I apologize
because I'm about to use a
00;35;08;14 - 00;35;10;12
baseball analogy,
and I hate baseball analogies,
00;35;10;12 - 00;35;13;12
but it feels like
we've had an awful lot of, like, at bats
00;35;13;15 - 00;35;16;09
for spatial computing, like every year.
00;35;16;09 - 00;35;19;26
Some, you know, whether it's Google
or Snapchat or Microsoft,
00;35;20;03 - 00;35;24;14
there's a new VR, there's a new AR, and,
this is the one that, you know,
00;35;24;14 - 00;35;26;10
there's a press tour. It's so exciting.
00;35;26;10 - 00;35;28;22
The form factor is different.
Something's different.
00;35;28;22 - 00;35;30;17
And, you know, swing and a miss. Right.
00;35;30;17 - 00;35;33;20
Or maybe that's unfair,
but but it hasn't taken off
00;35;33;20 - 00;35;36;20
in any sort of like, consumer good way.
00;35;37;10 - 00;35;39;14
What why is that?
00;35;39;14 - 00;35;41;29
Like, what are these organizations
getting wrong?
00;35;41;29 - 00;35;44;26
And has anything changed
in the past few years
00;35;44;26 - 00;35;47;10
where you expect the trajectory
to actually,
00;35;47;10 - 00;35;49;26
you know, tighten
where we're actually going to, you know,
00;35;49;26 - 00;35;52;09
we're going to make contact there
and something's going to take off.
00;35;52;09 - 00;35;57;05
Or do you expect to see in the next 5
to 10 years just, you know, another dozen
00;35;57;05 - 00;36;00;10
of these devices that are interesting,
but but don't hit the mark.
00;36;00;22 - 00;36;03;06
I think there's so much money
now invested in
00;36;03;06 - 00;36;06;11
what is going to replace the mobile phone,
that it's not up to us.
00;36;06;11 - 00;36;10;03
It's whatever Silicon Valley decides
to bring us, which is good and bad.
00;36;10;13 - 00;36;13;03
In some ways, you know,
so I don't know if we have a.
00;36;13;03 - 00;36;15;11
Yeah. No,
I don't know. I do agree with you.
00;36;15;11 - 00;36;18;03
I think there's been so much hype
and so many hits and misses.
00;36;18;03 - 00;36;19;03
This is the year.
00;36;19;03 - 00;36;21;16
This is the year
I feel like every year is the year of XR.
00;36;21;16 - 00;36;23;13
And every year I hear, like, VR is dead.
00;36;23;13 - 00;36;25;11
Like I feel like I hear that everything.
00;36;25;11 - 00;36;28;10
And I've been in this industry almost
a decade, like more than a decade now.
00;36;28;10 - 00;36;30;17
So every year, the same thing
00;36;30;17 - 00;36;33;17
I would say those are some of the things
I think it's a form factor issue.
00;36;33;17 - 00;36;35;22
I think it's the optics are not there yet.
00;36;35;22 - 00;36;36;21
You know what
00;36;36;21 - 00;36;38;29
what the meta glasses do,
do they bend light
00;36;38;29 - 00;36;41;28
so you can actually eventually
have your holograms in front of you?
00;36;41;28 - 00;36;43;01
That's really hard to do.
00;36;43;01 - 00;36;45;12
Very few people can do that with optics
right now.
00;36;45;12 - 00;36;48;18
So those true
holographic glasses that we are promise
00;36;48;18 - 00;36;50;28
like that's further into the future
right now.
00;36;50;28 - 00;36;52;28
The cost is going to be expensive.
00;36;52;28 - 00;36;54;03
The form factor is not there.
00;36;54;03 - 00;36;55;21
It's got to look really stylish
00;36;55;21 - 00;36;58;08
for us to eventually
want to wear this on our faces.
00;36;58;08 - 00;37;00;27
Or, you know, we're a device on us
all the time.
00;37;00;27 - 00;37;04;06
So I would think I think that I think
one of the biggest issues here
00;37;04;28 - 00;37;09;06
that is
there's two issues here, I would say, is
00;37;10;08 - 00;37;11;17
the fact that in order for
00;37;11;17 - 00;37;15;00
a lot of these devices to be out there
in the wild running at the same time,
00;37;15;10 - 00;37;19;09
you have to have connectivity
that currently does not exist, right?
00;37;19;22 - 00;37;20;24
5G is not going to cut it.
00;37;20;24 - 00;37;23;18
It's going to be 60, 60 plus,
or you're going to need something else.
00;37;23;18 - 00;37;26;17
So I think that that is something
that most people are not thinking about.
00;37;26;17 - 00;37;30;07
It's like if you really are going to have
whatever device you end up using,
00;37;31;04 - 00;37;34;04
millions of them, people
wearing them on the edge,
00;37;34;09 - 00;37;36;26
like we're talking about,
like edge, we're talking about computing.
00;37;36;26 - 00;37;40;28
You're talking about, you know,
connectivity levels we've never seen. So
00;37;42;03 - 00;37;43;12
so yeah, that's that's an issue.
00;37;43;12 - 00;37;45;11
If you don't have enough
00;37;45;11 - 00;37;48;01
connectivity, you're not going to power
all these devices,
00;37;48;01 - 00;37;50;05
you know, at the same time. Right?
00;37;50;05 - 00;37;53;01
We all have our phones
and we're able to navigate the world
00;37;53;01 - 00;37;55;19
because there's, you know, 5G bases
and there's all these sorts of things.
00;37;55;19 - 00;37;58;00
So, I think that
there's really interesting work
00;37;58;00 - 00;38;02;13
there being done with what's called radio
access networks and putting AI compute,
00;38;02;13 - 00;38;05;13
in 5G bases
to try to bring that closer to the user.
00;38;05;15 - 00;38;07;06
But it's early days, right?
00;38;07;06 - 00;38;09;05
So I don't think we're going to see that
connectivity
00;38;09;05 - 00;38;11;10
till, you know, maybe five years from now.
00;38;11;10 - 00;38;11;28
So that's one.
00;38;11;28 - 00;38;16;11
And I would say the other question and one
that I posed myself is the data centers.
00;38;16;11 - 00;38;17;02
Right?
00;38;17;02 - 00;38;20;00
Everyone talks about data
centers, data centers when it comes to AI.
00;38;20;00 - 00;38;24;28
If you are truly going into AI
and then physical AI,
00;38;25;11 - 00;38;28;07
what these data centers
are going to able to do is power that
00;38;28;07 - 00;38;31;06
future state and power these devices.
00;38;31;06 - 00;38;32;02
Right.
00;38;32;02 - 00;38;35;22
And at the end of the day,
we are going to need a lot of data,
00;38;35;22 - 00;38;39;21
which requires a lot of data centers,
and that requires a lot of energy.
00;38;39;21 - 00;38;43;00
So there is that push pool of like,
do we really want this?
00;38;43;20 - 00;38;44;25
Right.
00;38;44;25 - 00;38;46;24
So so I would say
those are some of the things I would say.
00;38;46;24 - 00;38;48;10
But yeah, it's it's a form factor issue.
00;38;48;10 - 00;38;50;25
It's the fact that, you know, the devices,
00;38;50;25 - 00;38;52;29
you have to have a problem
that you need to solve.
00;38;52;29 - 00;38;54;24
Right. Instead of like,
oh, I'm finding it.
00;38;54;24 - 00;38;55;08
Yeah.
00;38;55;08 - 00;38;58;07
Like, what is the problem
this solves for me at this point,
00;38;58;07 - 00;38;58;27
nothing Well, that's.
00;38;58;27 - 00;39;01;19
And that's
that's exactly what I'm caught up on.
00;39;01;19 - 00;39;05;20
Because, you know, you ask this question,
which I think is what a lot of the
00;39;05;20 - 00;39;09;08
Silicon Valley firms are asking, which is
what's going to replace the mobile phone.
00;39;09;16 - 00;39;14;11
And, and to me like that is such
a non like consumer facing question.
00;39;14;11 - 00;39;15;26
That's such like a business question.
00;39;15;26 - 00;39;17;12
It's like how do we make more money.
00;39;17;12 - 00;39;20;01
Like how do like how do we.
00;39;20;01 - 00;39;22;24
Yeah. Solution in search of a problem.
Like an end to me.
00;39;22;24 - 00;39;24;03
I'm going to rant here for a second.
00;39;24;03 - 00;39;27;12
And maybe I'm totally wrong,
but like like to me like
00;39;28;06 - 00;39;30;01
Steve Jobs never approached it.
00;39;30;01 - 00;39;33;15
Like, you know,
I need something to replace the iMac.
00;39;33;15 - 00;39;35;09
Therefore I'm going to create the iPhone.
00;39;35;09 - 00;39;38;07
It's more about like, what could we unlock
00;39;38;07 - 00;39;41;26
by people having, you know, all the power
of a computer in the palm of their hands?
00;39;42;04 - 00;39;45;23
Because you have to start thinking
about the use case, the killer app.
00;39;45;23 - 00;39;49;28
And I just to me,
so much of what we've seen is missing that
00;39;49;28 - 00;39;53;02
and coming back to it again, like,
that's why I'm sort of excited about,
00;39;53;12 - 00;39;54;21
you know, the Google Beam stuff.
00;39;54;21 - 00;39;57;26
But I don't know that that's the test
I use
00;39;57;26 - 00;40;00;26
when I look at
some of these things is like, what?
00;40;01;11 - 00;40;04;21
Why should I, as a consumer
be excited versus just like,
00;40;04;26 - 00;40;07;13
you know, and I work with an awful
lot of tech geeks and they're like,
00;40;07;13 - 00;40;09;01
the tech is exciting to them.
00;40;09;01 - 00;40;09;24
But like, come on,
00;40;09;24 - 00;40;14;18
are you ever going to get to scale
just because the tech itself is exciting?
00;40;15;02 - 00;40;16;25
Yeah. And I fall into those groups, right?
00;40;16;25 - 00;40;19;07
I speak in a silo
like I'm surrounded by tech people.
00;40;19;07 - 00;40;22;00
And we usually are speaking in silos.
I'm like, oh, my gosh, the field of view.
00;40;22;00 - 00;40;22;16
Who cares?
00;40;22;16 - 00;40;24;17
I don't think the consumer cares
about the field of view.
00;40;24;17 - 00;40;26;25
Right?
What's the problem solving for them?
00;40;26;25 - 00;40;30;02
So I will say that I do
think there is a level of hope
00;40;30;10 - 00;40;34;16
because it is Johnny
IV who's being brought into OpenAI.
00;40;34;25 - 00;40;37;06
With his startup company
and building something.
00;40;37;06 - 00;40;38;04
So I think there is some level
00;40;38;04 - 00;40;41;24
of hope of like, oh, it might be a great
UX and a great experience, right.
00;40;42;08 - 00;40;44;09
So we'll have to see it.
00;40;44;09 - 00;40;46;03
I mean, I have no insider information.
00;40;46;03 - 00;40;48;25
I don't know what he's building. Right.
So we'll have to see.
00;40;48;25 - 00;40;49;15
We'll have to see there.
00;40;49;15 - 00;40;53;09
We've got you know, obviously companies
like Humane and Rabid that presented ideas
00;40;53;09 - 00;40;56;09
and concepts on what could replace
the mobile phone, and they failed.
00;40;56;24 - 00;40;58;13
Right. So I'm not sure.
00;40;58;13 - 00;41;02;08
I will say
from an anthropological perspective,
00;41;02;08 - 00;41;05;21
let's say this in a technologically
technological history perspective,
00;41;06;07 - 00;41;09;00
there is a documentary
that I think should be required
00;41;09;00 - 00;41;12;00
watching for anyone in tech,
it's called General Magic.
00;41;12;01 - 00;41;13;17
I'm not sure if you watched it.
00;41;13;17 - 00;41;15;12
General magic. So. Right.
00;41;15;12 - 00;41;15;26
It came.
00;41;15;26 - 00;41;17;20
Okay, this this documentary came out
00;41;17;20 - 00;41;21;01
right around the time
that Magic Leap had their massive layoff.
00;41;21;11 - 00;41;23;25
I was one of the people at Magic Leap
that got laid off.
00;41;23;25 - 00;41;26;25
And this this documentary called General
Magic comes out
00;41;26;27 - 00;41;28;14
that has nothing to do with Magic Leap.
00;41;28;14 - 00;41;32;17
Magic Leap, but it is about a company
that had the idea and the concept
00;41;32;17 - 00;41;37;01
of the smartphone
before anyone else did a and it failed.
00;41;37;01 - 00;41;38;07
It raised a lot of money.
00;41;38;07 - 00;41;40;19
It ended up failing,
but a lot of the people that worked at
00;41;40;19 - 00;41;44;17
General Magic went on to Apple,
and they were part of the core team that
00;41;47;17 - 00;41;49;29
Cool.
00;41;49;29 - 00;41;50;19
Right.
00;41;50;19 - 00;41;53;24
a problem for anyone,
but eventually the basis
00;41;53;24 - 00;41;56;24
of what was created
did become the smartphone.
00;41;57;00 - 00;41;58;13
So I recommend it to anyone.
00;41;58;13 - 00;42;00;20
General magic. It Cool.
00;42;00;20 - 00;42;02;15
when it comes to tech. Cool.
00;42;02;15 - 00;42;03;24
Now I'll check that out.
00;42;03;24 - 00;42;06;20
I wanted to ask you. You're.
00;42;06;20 - 00;42;09;06
I sense you're kind of an optimist
when it comes to this stuff.
00;42;09;06 - 00;42;12;06
You're always excited about the next thing
tech is exciting to you.
00;42;12;19 - 00;42;14;27
I want to flip that on its head
a little bit.
00;42;14;27 - 00;42;17;12
Is there anything right now
that you're seeing in tech
00;42;17;12 - 00;42;20;17
that you think is B.S,
or that you think is like way overhyped?
00;42;21;29 - 00;42;24;10
That is way overhyped.
00;42;24;10 - 00;42;27;28
Gosh, what, am I a skeptic You.
00;42;28;19 - 00;42;29;18
remain so positive.
00;42;29;18 - 00;42;32;11
Like, I feel like I need to remain
positive for my kids.
00;42;32;11 - 00;42;34;16
In some ways, I'm, like,
all a tech optimist.
00;42;34;16 - 00;42;36;20
I'm not a tech. I'm not utopian, okay?
00;42;36;20 - 00;42;38;04
I'm not utopian in that sense.
00;42;38;04 - 00;42;40;10
It's not all popcorn and unicorns.
00;42;40;10 - 00;42;42;22
I'm more open,
which is like, you know, technology
00;42;42;22 - 00;42;45;22
and society working together
for the betterment of society.
00;42;45;28 - 00;42;48;01
So, what am I?
00;42;48;01 - 00;42;51;11
I don't know, I mean,
maybe this is what I'll say is, I do think
00;42;51;11 - 00;42;56;14
that in the current state of general large
language models and generative AI,
00;42;57;16 - 00;42;59;00
it is incredible technology.
00;42;59;00 - 00;43;00;13
AI will disrupt the world.
00;43;00;13 - 00;43;02;28
I don't know if just LMS
are going to disrupt the world.
00;43;02;28 - 00;43;05;20
I think it's a bigger conversation
about computer vision.
00;43;05;20 - 00;43;08;22
A lot of different parts of AI,
not just LMS.
00;43;09;03 - 00;43;12;26
So I do see some of the valuations
that baffle me,
00;43;13;08 - 00;43;16;09
that make me feel like is
how is this sustainable in the long term?
00;43;17;02 - 00;43;20;29
So that's one,
I think that we people are racing towards
00;43;20;29 - 00;43;24;27
data center construction
at a really fast speed,
00;43;24;27 - 00;43;27;29
without thinking about the,
you know, the, the
00;43;28;21 - 00;43;32;07
climate aspect of it, of you can't just
continue building all these data
00;43;32;07 - 00;43;35;07
centers, find other solutions
on the way to power these things.
00;43;35;10 - 00;43;36;19
So I would say those things
00;43;36;19 - 00;43;40;29
I am concerned about some of the things
that I'm seeing, with replacing
00;43;42;04 - 00;43;43;05
human connection
00;43;43;05 - 00;43;47;00
with robots or AI that worries me
immensely.
00;43;47;03 - 00;43;49;13
You know, I still.
00;43;49;13 - 00;43;49;26
Yeah.
00;43;49;26 - 00;43;53;05
Like, there's actually a survey
that was done recently.
00;43;53;05 - 00;43;56;05
It said that a lot of Gen Z would marry
and I,
00;43;56;05 - 00;43;59;07
you know, sample data or whatever, like
there's bias there, like, for us, like,
00;43;59;09 - 00;44;02;11
I don't think all of Gen Z would say that
or like half of them would say that.
00;44;03;11 - 00;44;06;05
But but still,
like things like that concern me,
00;44;06;05 - 00;44;10;23
concern me when it comes to like,
if we lose what truly makes us human.
00;44;10;23 - 00;44;13;13
Like, what does this mean?
At the end of the day?
00;44;13;13 - 00;44;17;20
There's also a race, I think,
to using AI agents on a constant basis.
00;44;18;09 - 00;44;20;25
I'll give you an
and we'll go back to the dating example,
00;44;20;25 - 00;44;22;16
because it's obviously where
I'm spending a lot of the time
00;44;22;16 - 00;44;25;02
thinking through how to disrupt
the sector is like,
00;44;25;02 - 00;44;28;01
if my agent is dating your AI agent
and we actually meet
00;44;28;01 - 00;44;30;19
in the physical world,
but there's no connection, like,
00;44;30;19 - 00;44;32;09
you know, or I don't What was the point?
00;44;32;09 - 00;44;33;08
Yeah. that. Right.
00;44;33;08 - 00;44;36;15
If it's a Yeah. thing and I meet you,
my agent says you're perfect for me,
00;44;36;15 - 00;44;38;07
but then I meet you,
and there's just like,
00;44;38;07 - 00;44;41;12
I think there's something that we still
we still to this day cannot offload
00;44;41;12 - 00;44;44;12
to technology. Right. We might one day.
00;44;44;18 - 00;44;44;25
Right.
00;44;44;25 - 00;44;47;26
But I think right now
there's still an element to humanity.
00;44;49;10 - 00;44;51;28
So maybe maybe there is a premium
to being human.
00;44;51;28 - 00;44;52;13
Right.
00;44;52;13 - 00;44;56;01
I heard Gary Vaynerchuk the other day
saying that in the future
00;44;56;01 - 00;44;59;01
we're going to pay people to walk with us,
like to go take a walk with us.
00;44;59;13 - 00;45;02;11
And that's stuck with me. It's it's done.
00;45;02;11 - 00;45;03;06
Do you think about that?
00;45;03;06 - 00;45;04;21
That's
something we're going to do in the future,
00;45;04;21 - 00;45;07;21
but potentially because there is going
to be a premium on human connection.
00;45;09;08 - 00;45;10;14
Interesting.
00;45;10;14 - 00;45;13;11
The that the,
the dating piece is really interesting.
00;45;13;11 - 00;45;14;17
And I'll come back to it for a second.
00;45;14;17 - 00;45;18;27
I mean and look I was fortunate enough
I use the word
00;45;18;27 - 00;45;23;13
fortunate to have found a partner before
like the age of like the dating apps.
00;45;23;13 - 00;45;27;21
But I feel like anyone I talk to
right now, like,
00;45;28;08 - 00;45;33;04
has only negative things to say about,
like online dating and even the same apps.
00;45;33;04 - 00;45;35;12
And I'm yeah,
we we all know what the apps are,
00;45;35;12 - 00;45;39;15
but even the same apps that ten years ago,
I feel like had a better reputation.
00;45;39;24 - 00;45;42;24
I don't know if they've changed
or expectations have changed, but
00;45;43;08 - 00;45;47;14
you know, it, it feels right for to just,
disruption, doesn't it?
00;45;47;15 - 00;45;49;02
Like, is that your experience?
00;45;49;02 - 00;45;49;28
Absolutely.
00;45;49;28 - 00;45;54;19
So as a you know, as a student of life
and as someone that wants to disrupt
00;45;54;19 - 00;45;57;02
that sector, I'm spending an insane
amount of time looking at it.
00;45;57;02 - 00;45;57;19
Right.
00;45;57;19 - 00;46;00;16
What works, you know, this is the thing.
00;46;00;16 - 00;46;01;08
And I go back to this
00;46;01;08 - 00;46;04;19
like if we as humans did in 3D, why are we
still dating in 2D in these apps?
00;46;05;06 - 00;46;07;14
Like I'm
making a judgment on a picture like,
00;46;08;14 - 00;46;09;16
is that what really happens?
00;46;09;16 - 00;46;11;22
I mean, you make a judgment in person,
but at least there's
00;46;11;22 - 00;46;14;22
a volumetric component of it,
and it's all your senses involved in,
00;46;14;27 - 00;46;17;09
you know, being judging the person
in front of you. Right.
00;46;17;09 - 00;46;18;23
I'm seeing several things.
00;46;18;23 - 00;46;21;23
I'm seeing a revival of in person.
00;46;21;26 - 00;46;25;29
So a lot more speed dating, a lot more
social happy hours for signal singles.
00;46;25;29 - 00;46;27;08
Like, I'm seeing a lot of that.
00;46;27;08 - 00;46;29;14
Running clubs are hot, right?
For meeting people.
00;46;29;14 - 00;46;33;02
There's kind of this resurgence
in that in person, which I think is great
00;46;33;02 - 00;46;34;18
because that's how people used to meet.
00;46;34;18 - 00;46;38;28
But on the other side, I see my kids
who are Gen Alpha starting to date.
00;46;39;26 - 00;46;40;17
You know, they're starting
00;46;40;17 - 00;46;42;08
they're starting their dating journeys
at the same time
00;46;42;08 - 00;46;44;23
as I'm going back into the into the,
you know, into the field.
00;46;44;23 - 00;46;47;18
So, so it's interesting
to watch how they're dating
00;46;47;18 - 00;46;50;11
and how they're dating in gaming spaces.
Right?
00;46;50;11 - 00;46;53;03
How they're using social media
like Snapchat
00;46;53;03 - 00;46;56;03
and things
to date, all these sorts of things.
00;46;56;05 - 00;46;59;17
I personally believe
that the solution to solving,
00;47;00;04 - 00;47;02;26
you know, the swipe
fatigue is not more swipes.
00;47;02;26 - 00;47;05;12
I think it's about interactivity
and presence,
00;47;05;12 - 00;47;08;06
because when you're able to tap to
to do an activity
00;47;08;06 - 00;47;11;18
like a joint experience with someone,
you learn something about them, right?
00;47;11;18 - 00;47;11;21
Yeah.
00;47;11;21 - 00;47;14;21
You can make a better judgment as to,
is this the right partner for me or no?
00;47;15;00 - 00;47;18;23
So one of the things that I was proposing
is creating more gaming
00;47;18;23 - 00;47;20;22
and dating startups,
especially when you talk about Gen
00;47;20;22 - 00;47;24;09
Alpha growing up and starting to date,
if they can go into these apps and yeah,
00;47;24;10 - 00;47;28;00
see the profile and stuff like that,
but maybe go and do a virtual bowling date
00;47;28;00 - 00;47;31;18
before they meet in the physical world,
virtual cooking, a virtual escape room
00;47;31;22 - 00;47;32;28
kind of having that experience
00;47;32;28 - 00;47;35;18
where they're actually engaging
with someone in a 3D form
00;47;35;18 - 00;47;37;11
and kind of doing an experience together,
00;47;37;11 - 00;47;40;15
I think that will give you a more informed
decision than five pictures.
00;47;40;22 - 00;47;41;05
Right?
00;47;41;05 - 00;47;43;21
And a profile
that was created with I Yeah.
00;47;43;21 - 00;47;45;29
Well, and I really like that.
00;47;45;29 - 00;47;49;13
And you know
the idea of like gaming, dating.
00;47;49;13 - 00;47;52;13
I really like,
I like the idea that dating doesn't
00;47;52;13 - 00;47;55;23
have to take center stage,
that it's connected to something else.
00;47;55;23 - 00;47;58;06
And in some ways like that's like
the original form, like,
00;47;58;06 - 00;47;59;25
you know, the old fashioned form
of dating is, you know,
00;47;59;25 - 00;48;01;12
you meet people when you're,
00;48;01;12 - 00;48;03;23
you know, going out with friends
or dancing or whatever.
00;48;03;23 - 00;48;05;02
But I guess that,
00;48;05;02 - 00;48;08;02
like the part that concerns me
and I know I'm not alone here is that,
00;48;08;02 - 00;48;11;02
you know, if you're if you're Tinder and
I'll pick on Tinder, it can be any of em.
00;48;11;03 - 00;48;14;15
It feels like you have a perverse
incentive to actually keep people
00;48;14;15 - 00;48;18;22
on your platform and not help them
find a partner and get off of it. Right.
00;48;18;22 - 00;48;23;22
And so if it only exists
and it has a financial incentive
00;48;23;22 - 00;48;28;15
to keep you in this swiping pattern, like,
isn't that less healthy then?
00;48;28;19 - 00;48;32;25
Or we happened to meet because we were
playing, you know, Minecraft or whatever.
00;48;33;02 - 00;48;37;13
And we have this shared hobby where
I was able to meet someone like minded.
00;48;38;00 - 00;48;38;24
There's the missing.
00;48;38;24 - 00;48;40;21
The missed opportunity is that.
00;48;40;21 - 00;48;42;16
Let's say
you match with someone in this app.
00;48;42;16 - 00;48;44;17
Through this.
Through the gaming aspect. Right?
00;48;45;23 - 00;48;46;21
Why not?
00;48;46;21 - 00;48;49;28
After you match and you start creating
a relationship, can you start creating
00;48;49;28 - 00;48;53;10
kind of like,
almost like an album of your relationship?
00;48;53;14 - 00;48;57;04
Virtual, like a virtual timeline
of your relationships?
00;48;57;05 - 00;48;58;09
I think there's ways to be able
00;48;58;09 - 00;49;02;04
to use this technology for good
and for increasing intimacy.
00;49;02;04 - 00;49;05;01
So one thing that I'm launching is called
the Tech Intimacy Scale
00;49;05;01 - 00;49;07;20
on how to use technology
to make your relationships better.
00;49;07;20 - 00;49;09;11
I'm starting with dating,
but then eventually it's going
00;49;09;11 - 00;49;11;17
to be parenting
and eventually going to be at work, right?
00;49;11;17 - 00;49;12;24
Because I do think that right now
00;49;12;24 - 00;49;15;19
you can divorce technology
from your day to day, right?
00;49;15;19 - 00;49;16;10
And yes,
00;49;16;10 - 00;49;17;27
you can use it
to make your relationships better,
00;49;17;27 - 00;49;18;24
or you can make it
00;49;18;24 - 00;49;22;02
down to level one where it's like
isolation or you're like completely,
00;49;22;17 - 00;49;25;06
you know, using technology
instead of engaging with humans.
00;49;25;06 - 00;49;27;09
So I think that
there's going to be a variation.
00;49;27;09 - 00;49;30;11
I think what a lot of these app companies
and the ones that I'm talking
00;49;30;11 - 00;49;34;24
to, I'm like, it's not about adding more
AI, it's not about that.
00;49;34;24 - 00;49;35;12
At the end of the day,
00;49;35;12 - 00;49;39;05
what people are craving
is connection and presence and being seen.
00;49;39;12 - 00;49;43;17
And if you add more AI and have your agent
and my agent, I don't feel seen, right?
00;49;43;17 - 00;49;45;18
So I think that there needs
to be a level of gaming.
00;49;45;18 - 00;49;48;03
Let's be honest, everyone's playing
games on these apps, right?
00;49;48;03 - 00;49;49;24
So why don't we
play the right type of game,
00;49;50;26 - 00;49;53;03
you know,
and add these types of experiences.
00;49;53;03 - 00;49;55;22
And then why don't you
why don't you transition
00;49;55;22 - 00;50;00;02
when when a couple meets starting
to create that, that kind of like virtual,
00;50;00;15 - 00;50;03;22
you know, virtual,
photo album of sorts, let's call it that.
00;50;03;22 - 00;50;04;25
I'm still I'm still working through
00;50;04;25 - 00;50;08;07
what that means, but ways
to kind of incentivize that relationship.
00;50;08;07 - 00;50;11;04
But it doesn't have to be like meet
some on the app and get off the app.
00;50;11;04 - 00;50;12;15
It could be meet someone on the app.
00;50;12;15 - 00;50;14;20
And then how do you grow that?
00;50;14;20 - 00;50;15;28
You know and use the tools.
00;50;15;28 - 00;50;18;28
The technology allows you
to have to make your relationship better.
00;50;19;05 - 00;50;20;02
So. So yeah,
00;50;20;02 - 00;50;21;25
it's something that I'm spending
a lot of time thinking through
00;50;21;25 - 00;50;22;22
and something that I'm going to be
00;50;22;22 - 00;50;26;05
kind of like launching pretty soon,
because I feel strongly about this,
00;50;26;16 - 00;50;27;21
because I'm living through it,
00;50;27;21 - 00;50;31;03
and because I'm seeing my kids
starting to go into this world.
00;50;31;29 - 00;50;36;06
I, I love that, and to me,
it ties together so much of what
00;50;36;06 - 00;50;39;21
we've talked about today, which is that
human connection and intimacy
00;50;40;08 - 00;50;44;20
like these are the reasons the technology
is there at all at the end of the day.
00;50;44;27 - 00;50;48;01
And it feels like if you get that right,
there's so much
00;50;48;01 - 00;50;51;01
to be gained for,
you know, for individuals, for people.
00;50;51;01 - 00;50;53;12
And if you get that wrong,
then you know, who care.
00;50;53;12 - 00;50;57;05
You know, we either end up in a,
you know, in a state of apathy or,
00;50;57;05 - 00;50;58;22
you know, worse off than we were before.
00;50;58;22 - 00;51;02;15
So I love that message for,
you know, individuals
00;51;02;15 - 00;51;05;15
or even for, you know, technology leaders
listening to this.
00;51;06;01 - 00;51;08;09
Cathy, I wanted to say thank you so much
for joining today,
00;51;08;09 - 00;51;11;19
that this has been super insightful,
and I really appreciated our conversation.
00;51;12;06 - 00;51;13;17
Thank you I love being here.
00;51;13;17 - 00;51;16;00
And yeah I'm glad we took some turns
that we weren't expecting.
00;51;16;00 - 00;51;19;00
But it's going to be useful
to folks out there.
00;51;19;01 - 00;51;19;23
Absolutely
00;51;28;16 - 00;51;28;19
And.


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