Pop icon Lorde recently made headlines, not just for her electrifying performance at Spain’s Mad Cool Festival, but for her scorching hot take on the latest tech trend: AI-powered smart glasses. While some celebrities like Kylie Jenner seemingly embrace the role of “human billboards” for these devices, Lorde minced no words, declaring them emphatically “not sexy” and urging her audience to steer clear.
Her bold pronouncement adds a compelling voice to the growing debate surrounding smart eyewear, blending celebrity influence with serious privacy concerns. This isn’t the first time the artist has expressed skepticism towards pervasive technology, previously recounting tales of throwing her phone into the ocean. However, her latest critique, delivered to a massive festival crowd, feels like an escalation in the conversation around digital intrusion.
Lorde’s Unfiltered Take on AI Glasses
During her set, Lorde directly addressed the increasingly blurry lines between reality and technology. She voiced a palpable frustration, telling the audience, “Increasingly in our world, it gets harder and harder to know what is real.” The ease with which these glasses can covertly record, she argued, strips away the simplicity of human interaction.
Her powerful message culminated in a clear, unfiltered warning: “You don’t know if someone is wearing sunglasses, or if they’re wearing those f***ed up, f***ing [AI glasses]. Can I just say, for the record, f*** the glasses. Don’t get the glasses. Not sexy.” This explicit rejection of the technology resonated deeply, offering a stark contrast to the glossy marketing campaigns often associated with such products.
The timing of Lorde’s comments was particularly noteworthy. The Mad Cool Festival boasted Ray-Ban as a sponsor, a brand that partners with Meta to produce these very AI glasses. Furthermore, Lorde performed just before singer Jennie, an official ambassador for the Ray-Ban x Meta smart glasses line, adding an unexpected layer of direct relevance to her impassioned plea against the devices.
Beyond Aesthetics: The Deep Dive into Privacy Concerns
Lorde’s “not sexy” verdict touches upon a deeper current of anxiety surrounding smart glasses. Security experts have widely labeled these devices a “privacy nightmare,” and for good reason. Equipped with cameras and sophisticated AI features, these glasses possess the capacity for constant, often inconspicuous, recording of individuals and their surroundings.
This raises profound ethical questions about consent and surveillance in public and private spaces. Instances of smart glasses being used as tools for harassment and extortion have already emerged, underscoring the tangible risks associated with their proliferation. The discreet nature of their recording capabilities makes it challenging for individuals to even know when they are being filmed.
While Meta, a leading manufacturer of smart glasses, asserts its commitment to privacy—implementing safeguards like a visible recording light—the company faces considerable scrutiny. Numerous investigations and lawsuits allege privacy violations, including a concerning claim that Kenyan contract workers were compelled to review graphic videos, purportedly obtained via these glasses, to train Meta’s AI algorithms. Such allegations highlight the complex and often troubling ethical landscape surrounding AI development and data collection.
Sales Surge Despite Skepticism: What’s Driving Adoption?
Despite these significant ethical and privacy concerns, the market for AI glasses, particularly Meta’s offerings, continues to experience robust growth. EssilorLuxottica, the company behind Ray-Ban, reported astonishing sales figures, with over 7 million Meta AI glasses sold in 2025 alone. This represents a more than threefold increase compared to the combined sales of roughly 2 million units in 2023 and 2024.
The sheer popularity of Ray-Ban Meta glasses has seemingly emboldened Meta, leading to a continuous expansion of their smart glasses lineup. This commercial success suggests that for many consumers, the perceived benefits and convenience of these devices—such as hands-free photo/video capture, discreet audio, and integrated AI capabilities—outweigh the privacy implications or aesthetic reservations.
Yet, Lorde’s powerful commentary serves as a potent reminder that the conversation isn’t solely about technological advancement or sales figures. It’s also about human perception, comfort, and the increasingly crucial question of what truly defines authentic human connection in a digitally saturated world. Perhaps, as Lorde succinctly put it, if privacy concerns don’t give people pause, then a blunt assessment of their un-sexiness just might.
Ultimately, her advocacy for “the here and now” over pervasive tech underscores a yearning for genuine, unmediated experiences. Her critique invites us to consider whether the convenience offered by AI glasses comes at too high a cost—not just to our privacy, but to the very essence of human interaction.
Source: TechCrunch – AI
