Meta and Nvidia: The Future of Social Media and Personal Technology

Last week, the leaders of two big companies, Nvidia and Meta (which used to be called Facebook), spoke at an important event called Siggraph.

The conversation with Huang by the fire didn’t share any new ideas, but the talk between Zuckerberg and Huang was really interesting. They didn’t talk much about what Facebook will do with AI, but from what they did talk about, I think I can guess what might happen in the future.

Two men had different ideas about personal technology. One man, Zuckerberg, liked to think about all the cool things we could create in the future. The other man, Huang, was more interested in what was the right thing to do with technology. This difference is interesting, and we will talk about it this week.

Let’s finish up by talking about my special item of the week. It’s really great to have right now if you want to stay cool while you sleep, but you don’t want to waste a lot of money using the air conditioner all night.

The meeting between Zuckerberg and Huang was really interesting to watch for many reasons. One big reason was that Zuckerberg seemed more like a real person this time, instead of acting like a robot like he usually does. He was friendly, looked like he actually liked Huang, and he seemed not only smart, which we already knew, but also nice, which was a new side of him.

It made me think of a show called “Star Trek: The Next Generation” where there are two robot brothers, and one is more emotional than the other. I noticed that Mark Zuckerberg, the guy who created Facebook, has gotten much better at talking to people since I last saw him. He must have worked really hard to improve his skills, and it seems to have worked well for him. If you watch the video and forget what you thought about him before, you’ll see that he seems smart and more like a regular person now, which is a big change.

Huang and Zuckerberg talked about a lot of things, but when they started chatting about really cool glasses and headsets that let you see and experience things in a new way, it seemed like they were talking about what might come next after our smartphones.

Smartphones are like tiny computers that you can touch instead of using a keyboard and mouse. They have a screen where you can see things and tap on them. But now, there’s something called AI that lets you talk to your phone instead of just tapping. It would be even cooler if you could wear special glasses that let you see things right in front of your eyes and have a microphone close to your mouth so you can talk to it easily.

Today, many people look at their phones while walking, and that can be very dangerous. But if we could make special glasses that let you see the phone screen right in front of your eyes, while also using a camera like the ones in self-driving cars, those glasses could help you see things around you and tell you if you might bump into something or get too close to a car. This way, your hands would be free to carry things or help you stay balanced!

Zuckerberg was thinking about his special glasses called Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. These glasses can listen to commands, play sounds, and take pictures. But they don’t have a screen inside because that would make them too expensive and heavy. He noticed that people don’t like wearing heavy gadgets, like the Apple Vision Pro, even though it has similar features to what Huang imagines for the future.

He was right that a new headset should look and feel more like regular glasses, but still have the cool features of the Vision Pro. However, the technology to make that kind of headset isn’t ready yet, which is why Zuckerberg’s ideas are getting more attention for now. I think for it to be really successful, it should have the great abilities of the Vision Pro (or Meta Quest) but be as light and easy to wear as Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.

This new gadget could take the place of smartphones and change how we use technology. Instead of you having to figure out how to work with your phone, this device will learn how to work with you and help you better!

In a chat between two men, one of them, Zuckerberg, talked about something called recommendation engines. These are like smart helpers that can suggest things to buy when you’re shopping online for a business. It was a bit worrying how he thought these helpers could be used in the future.

What worries me is that what they are doing sounds just like something that caused a company called Netscape to fail. Making software for big companies is really hard, and you need a strong name that those companies will trust. But Facebook and Meta don’t have that kind of strong name. I know someone who used to work at Netscape is now on Meta’s board, and I hope they didn’t convince Zuckerberg to make the same mistake Netscape made.

Using a special tool on Facebook that suggests things could really change how ads are shown and help people find others who like the same things. This change would help Facebook go back to its original purpose of helping people make and keep friends.

If Facebook uses smart technology the right way, it can be much better at showing ads to people. A lot of the fake ads I used to see on Facebook are gone now, which means they have done a really good job improving things over the last few years.

Think of a new version of Facebook that helps you find cool things to buy that you didn’t even know about. It also shows you new people who like the same things as you do and might become your good friends, not just people you chat with online.

If we use AI the right way, it can make Facebook a better place where people of all ages can find friends and talk to others, helping them feel less lonely. It can help make sure these connections are safe, so no one gets tricked or hurt.

Huang and Zuckerberg talked about digital humans, which are like computer versions of ourselves. Huang shared how his digital self is getting better. They discussed how we could make copies of ourselves that could help out when we’re too busy. These digital copies could also help people who find it hard to talk to others, making it easier for them to practice and get better at socializing.