Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has filed a patent for a “creepy” AI-powered wearable device that would be capable of tracking the user’s emotional state – right down to their sighs and laughter and what time of day they take medication.
The patent filing, which was published on July 2, describes an “apparatus” for “emotional state analysis and real-time fitness coaching.” Meta wrote in part that the device would use insights such as whether the user is happy or sad to generate a workout routine.
“The AI assistant may listen to a user(s) at predefined times to hear various types of communication, such as sighs, laughter, and/or the tone(s) of a voice(s),” the filing says. “The AI assistant may use these inputs to quantify the user’s emotional state or generate other insights about the user.”
Meta’s filing adds that AI software tied to the wearable device could use the data it tracks to “provide a summary of emotional trends based on various inputs (e.g., a happier emotional state associated with a particular time of day or at a time when medication is taken, etc.).”
In one scenario described by the patent filing, Meta’s wearable would recognize when a “user laughs with friend at dinner at 5:15 pm,” and the audio of that moment would be “recognized and logged by AI.”
Meta asserts that an AI-powered fitness device would be more effective that a human personal trainer in crafting routines for users. It could be capable of providing real-time feedback on form during particular exercises and dictating workouts when the wearer is most emotionally “ready” for them.
“Like other companies, patents at Meta are often filed to disclose concepts that may or may not be implemented, and a granted patent does not guarantee that Meta has pursued or will pursue the technology described,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.
The patent was first reported by Patentlyze and 404 Media.
The filing drew immediate pushback from online safety advocates, including Fairplay executive director Josh Golin, whose organization has repeatedly blasted Meta for pursuing invasive technologies.
“This creepy patent appears to be part of Meta’s grand plans to monitor every aspect of our lives in order to profit off of ads targeted to users’ emotional vulnerabilities,” Fairplay executive director Josh Golin said in a statement.
“For impressionable young people, this is particularly worrisome and speaks to why privacy legislation that limits data collection and bans targeted ads to minors is so desperately needed,” Golin added.
Critics have long accused Zuckerberg of prioritizing profits over user privacy and safety. Those concerns have been amplified in recent months as Meta leans further into its “smart” glasses.
The company came under fire last month when Wired reported that it had quietly embedded facial recognition software in its glasses with the capacity to identify specific people who cross paths with the wearer. Meta claimed the software hadn’t shipped to consumers and blasted the news outlet for what it called “advocacy-driven click bait.”
The smart glasses previously drew flak for enabling creeps to record themselves making unwanted passes at unsuspecting women.