Humans will be wearing AI headsets that tell us what to do 'within 10 years'

By 2030 we'll all be wearing permanent headsets controlled by artificial intelligence telling us what to do, according to a UK "future expert".

David Wood, chair of the London Futurists, worked in the technology industry for 25 years and was predicting the ubiquity of smartphones as early the 1990s.

"We'll see people carrying more in their ears, and not just as fashion accessories," he told Daily Star Online.

"Headsets are going to get more popular and more powerful."

These devices, which could look like visors, glasses or even Apple AirPods, will combine artificial intelligence with augmented reality, providing an all-in-one service to be worn around the clock, Wood says.

"They'll be listening to us and offering us what we need, like a good friend offering advice. If we're in a museum they'll explain things to us, they'll discourage us from buying things we don't need, give us dating tips.

"They'll essentially act as a voice of God or guardian angel, and in 10 years' time we'll take it for granted."

Wood says the AI we have now in the form of Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa is "narrow AI" which is, more often than not, frustrating and inefficient – but the technology is coming along in "leaps and bounds".

Moore's Law, a computing theory from the 1960s, dictated that computers double in power and capability every 18 months, but Wood says by 2020 that pace of change has increased "exponentially".

The headsets of the future won't be too different from Google Glass, the tech gamble that failed to gain any kind of public popularity thanks to a vision-inhibiting design and clunky technology, as well as a host of privacy issues.

But Wood says in the six years since Google Glass was first introduced to the public, wearable tech has come a long way.

Last year Microsoft released the second edition of the HoloLens, a "mixed reality headset" designed to help professionals complete day-to-day tasks with the assistance of apps, and Wood says the new device is far lighter and "smarter" than its predecessor.

There are "already lots of apps" performing all the functions of an AI headset, and the natural next step is for the technology to come together in one wearable hands-free device.

Unlike the previous decade of technological developments which saw Apple corner the marker on smartphones, Wood predicts the AI headsets of the 2020s will likely be pioneered by Chinese or Korean giants such as Huawei and Samsung.

However, he added that whether his prediction about tech's next big thing comes true or not entirely depends on whether consumers like wearing headsets that provide a running commentary on everything they do.

He said: "The future of tech depends on human choice. The devices that succeeded did so because they felt enchanting, they felt intuitive and they made people feel good."