Meta patents creepy AI device that tracks wearers sighs and laughter, medication intake

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...