Lara here, Girlboss’ contributing writer! 👋
It finally happened to me. I was at a Fourth of July party over the weekend, and a dude was wearing… Meta glasses. 😱 It’s one thing to see Kylie Jenner wearing them in commercials, but it’s another to feel like you’re being surveilled while you’re crushing your third hot dog of the day 🌭 (guilty 🤪).
Today, we're unpacking what's really behind Kylie's new "stylish" Meta glasses: what they do, how they work, and why her involvement is causing controversy.
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But the cute clothes are definitely a bonus… and we've got our eye on:
This is officially the cozy, intentional wardrobe upgrade you didn't know you needed.
Courtesy of Meta
We Need to Talk About Kylie Jenner's New Meta Glasses 🕶️
ICYMI, Meta recently announced their new Starfire glasses designed by Kylie Jenner. The AI assistance on the glasses is voiced by King Kylie herself, loaded with her signature phrases like “rise and shine” so that you can start your day just like Stormi does (in a constant state of surveillance, that is 🤪).
🧐 How do the glasses actually work?
Tiny cameras, microphones, and sensors in the frames capture what’s happening around them, while AI chips process it all in real time, according to Meta. The glasses also come with a voice-controlled AI assistant that listens and responds in the moment (kind of like Siri but with your eyes and ears).
🤷♀️ But what are you supposed to use them for?
Suggested uses include everything from live translation (e.g. reading a menu in a foreign country) to hands-free communication (e.g. sending a text with a voice command). Oh, and of course they can constantly film everything around you without the consent of others… but more on that later. TLDR? They’re basically ChatGPT for your face.
😨 So why is everyone so disturbed by them?
Anyone who read George Orwell’s 1984 in high school can tell you that constant surveillance is a key element of that dystopian society, where citizens have zero privacy and are monitored 24/7 with “telescreens” and hidden microphones… Sound familiar?
And unsurprisingly, women are already feeling the effects of constant surveillance the most: on social media, hundreds of videos have surfaced of men secretly filming women using smart glasses, and the comments are flooded with derogatory comments directed at the women for simply existing.
A study from Harvard also found that smart glasses can be used to reveal extensive personal information like your name, phone number, and address just from looking at you.
Considering that women are already the primary targets for digital violence, many are suggesting that smart glasses technology poses even more direct threats to women’s safety, particularly in the form of stalking and harassment.
😬 So what’s the deal with Kylie having her own Meta glasses?
Considering the many highly publicized concerns for women’s (and children’s!) safety as a result of smart glasses, many critics are suggesting that Meta’s recent collab with Kylie is a not-so-subtle way of rebranding the tech to be more appealing to women, who account for 85% of all consumer purchases.
If you want to learn more about the topic, we love this explainer about the feminization of AI from DEI expert Dr. Sarah Saska. We’ll leave you with this:
“The fastest way to make technology feel less threatening is to feminize it.” 🎤🫳
POLL: How do you feel about Kylie Jenner’s Meta glasses?
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