This is an excellent question. I’d say the main reason is that all of the AI/ML systems that we have built to date are utility maximizers; that’s the mathematical framework in which they have been designed. Neural nets / deep-learning work by using a simple optimizer to find the minimum of a loss function via gradient descent. Evolutionary algorithms, simulated annealing, etc. find the minimum (or maximum) of a “fitness function”. We don’t know of any other way to build systems that learn.
Humans themselves evolved to maximize reproductive fitness. In the case of humans, our primary fitness function is reproductive fitness, but our genes have encoded a variety of secondary functions which (over evolutionary time) have been correlated with reproductive fitness. Our desires for love, friendship, happiness, etc. fall into this category. Our brains mainly work to satisfy these secondary functions; the brain gets electrochemical reward signals, controlled by our genes, in the form of pain/pleasure/satisfaction/loneliness etc. These secondary functions may or may not remain aligned with the primary loss function, which is why practitioners sometimes talk about “mesa-optimizers” or “inner vs outer alignment.”
I disagree with pretty much everything you’ve said here.
First, zoom meetings (or google meet) are not necessarily worse than in-person. They’re great! I’ve been working from home since the pandemic started, and I actually have more meetings and interactions with colleagues than I did before. Before the pandemic, having a meeting not only meant setting a time, but finding a spare conference room, which were in short supply at my office. With WFH, any time I want to talk to someone, I just send them a brief chat, and boom, instant videoconference. I love it. It’s great.
Second, what problem, exactly, is VR supposed to solve? Facial expressions are much more accurate over videoconference than VR. Looking at poorly rendered and animated avatars is not going to fix anything. Gestures and hand signals are more accurate over VC. Slide presentations are easy over VC. Shared documents are easy over VC. I really can’t think of anything that would actually be better in VR.
Third, I’m early adopter and VR enthusiast, and owner of a high-end ($4k) VR gaming rig, and I can tell you that the tech is really only suitable for niche applications. VR headsets are heavy, sweaty and uncomfortable. They’re a pain to use with glasses. Screen resolution is low, unless you spend lots of $$$. You don’t have good peripheral vision. There are lensing artifacts. Lots of people still get nauseous. It’s hard to use a keyboard, or to move without bumping into things. I’ve got a strong stomach, but an hour or two is pretty much my max before I want to rip the damn thing off. No way in hell am I going to wear a VR headset for meetings; I’d quit my job first.
VR is really great for certain things, like flight simulators, where the head tracking and immersion makes it vastly superior to any other option. But if Meta thinks that ordinary people are going to want to use VR headsets for daily work, then they’re smoking some pretty strong stuff.