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by solaris152000 591 days ago
Yesterday I was walking in Greece and saw a sign I couldn't read so asked my Meta glasses and it gave me a translation and short explanation quickly, which was very helpful.

But generally, yes the uses aren't there. In the Apple AI video, the worst is that the 'more professional' text, actually reads much less professional.

If someone in a business situation sends you an AI generated email (and it's obviously AI it's so easy to tell) it makes it seem like they are unable to write English properly, giving the opposite impression than intended.

5 comments

> Yesterday I was walking in Greece and saw a sign I couldn't read so asked my Meta glasses and it gave me a translation and short explanation quickly, which was very helpful.

Like other attempts at AI wearables like the Rabbit and Humane pins, I think that falls under "maybe useful but why wouldn't I just do the same thing with the phone that I'm carrying anyway".

- AR is very promising for both work and play, but is worthless shit if you have to hold a device to use it. Instantly 100x better if you've got hypothetical near-future non-terrible AR glasses on most of the day.

- Half of what people use the Web for is looking up trivia that would have been too high-cost to look up before, to bother with (most of the other half is posting on social media about it). Glasses further lower the cost of looking up many categories of trivia, making even more trivial pieces of knowledge cheap enough to look up. On a revealed-preference basis, this seems to be something people really like and find irritating when denied—nobody used to feel an itch when they couldn't find an answer to some fleeting trivial question that entered their mind. Once exposed to the Web, and even more so when smartphones were introduced and the Web became something you carried everywhere, they do, and it'll be the same for answering questions about stuff they're looking at, once used to glasses.

- The use case of capturing otherwise-missed (getting out the phone is too slow) fleeting once-ever moments is going to be very compelling for people.

Well as someone that only has a passable knowledge of Greek, my phone has been doing that since at least 5 years now.

Yes AI algorithms are behind it, but hardly something new to brag about in 2024.

Usability matters for use cases like this. A lot.

Yes, Google Translate has been able to do this for a while now, but I still find the experience very yanky and high friction so that I don't do it on a whim, usually.

Everything-translating AR glasses would have been something I'd have really appreciated on a trip to Japan, for example.

> In the Apple AI video, the worst is that the 'more professional' text, actually reads much less professional.

The original text is:

> Hey J,

> Been thinking, this project might need a bit of zhuhzing. But you're the big enchilada.

> Holler back

followed by the sender's first name in lower case surrounded by flexed bicep emoji.

The AI rewritten text keeps the "Hey J,". It changes the rest to

> Upon further consideration, I believe this project may require some refinement. However, you are the most capable individual to undertake this task.

> Please let me know your thoughts.

> Best regards,

followed by the sender's first name capitalized and with no emoji.

I don't see how the second could be considered less professional than the first.

From the other comments here it seems like some people may be seeing different ads when they follow the links, possibly depending on their location. The text above is what was in the ad I get to from the link in the article. Are you getting something different?

Sorry for moving the goal post... it is just that this example in the ad illustrates path to idiocracy.
Sounds like it’s time for an AI that writes emails like a busy tech executive:

“no big deal. get it done. steve”

Honestly I wouldn’t hesitate to steal and break any meta ray bands I see on the street in real life. I don’t want to see that creepy always recording without permission kind of shit normalised.
Do you steal and break people's phones?

Not trying to be snarky, I think I very much understand your reaction to this constantly monitored and surveilled world we're in. I think it's arguable that these types of glasses will make it worse too.

But people are recording without permission on their phones since several years now - what has been your reaction there?

I'm not a very confrontational person, so I tend to grumble and say nothing.

Holding a phone in front of you to record is obviously deliberate, unlike wearing glasses.
theft and violence is your solution? what a nice group of "intellectuals" here at HN.
Wait until you hear about Teslas