Avengers assemble! Or..not? Mark Zuckerberg may be talented and rich, but he’s no Tony Stark. Or is he?
A video released yesterday shows a day in Zuckerberg’s life working with his very own Jarvis. But was this just an “a day in a rich man’s life” video? Or was it an actual promise of something great that’s yet to come?
This video, which in less than 24 hours has gone insanely viral, exposes Zuckerberg’s plans for an AI development (which, in the video, translates into a computer-controlled virtual assistant, narrated by Morgan Freeman that operates things inside his house like lights and music.)
The Age of AI Is Here
As the year comes to an end we find ourselves entering an age of tech like VR, AR, and AI as technology attempts to make our lives simpler. Zuckergerg seems to have found an interest in joining giants like Google and Amazon to create personal AI assistants for daily tasks. However,his plan seems to take everything we’ve known up until now to the next level. The difference is that Mark does not have a commercially available finished product, only an amusing video of the future we’ve seen in movies. In fact, he finishes the video with a request from the viewers to share their ideas and suggestions on how to improve this “Jarvis.” This video comes almost a year after he posted the following post on his Facebook page: “My personal challenge for 2016 is to build a simple AI to run my home and help me with my work. You can think of it kind of like Jarvis in Iron Man.” Based on this video, Mark’s AI is capable of scheduling alerts and alarms, controlling lights, teaching languages, and can recognize faces to open the gate to your house. Though Mark Zuckerberg showed off his tech with his trademark awkward personality (he has improved ten fold in the past decade) he certainly made a case for some amazing AI tech that I would love to have in my own home, especially if voiced by none other than Morgan Freeman. Clearly the video did it’s job.From Dad Joke to Reality?
Normally, prior to a new release, us users get to witness a soon-to-be-finished product (if not the complete product) as part of a marketing campaign. Here, however,e we see something a little bit unconventional – we see an act. While the act is amusing, and almost seems like a parody, it comes with a promise. Maybe we can’t get a similar product of our own just yet, but this leaves us eagerly waiting for “Jarvis” to hit the markets. The real risk for Zuckerberg is if someone beats him to market on his own product. Personally, this risk has me believing that we’re a lot closer to seeing a commercially sold AI from Facebook sooner rather than later. No matter what, this was great PR from Mark Zuckerberg. Everyone is on the edge of their seats just itching for an AI like this one and someone is going to do it. The only question left is how long until everyone can get one of their own. I guess we’ll just have to be patient.