Meta’s live demo fails; “AI” recording plays before the actor takes the steps

Cringe and cultural framing

• Many describe the demo as excruciatingly awkward, comparing it to “The Office,” “Peep Show,” “Black Mirror,” and Silicon Valley’s Hooli—corporate cringe at trillion‑dollar scale.
• Zuckerberg’s lack of charisma is a recurring theme; people contrast him with Jobs and even Gates, who are seen as handling live failures with more grace and conviction.

What actually failed in the demo

• Some believe the assistant’s behavior was not a prerecorded clip but a brittle, “on‑rails” flow: the model generated a recipe, assumed earlier steps were done, and got stuck on a later step when interrupted.
• Others think parts were effectively hard‑coded to specific phrases, making it feel like IVR or a soundboard rather than a free interaction.
• Several note that the system clearly did not use the visual feed as advertised (e.g., insisting ingredients were already combined, inventing a pear that wasn’t on the table).
• A minority argues there’s no solid evidence of outright fakery; instead it demonstrates real‑world fragility of current vision‑language systems.

Use case and value of the AI

• The chosen demo—narrating a simple steak sauce recipe—is widely mocked as trivial for the billions being spent on AI.
• Critics say a cookbook, printed recipe, or basic TTS would be more reliable and less distracting.
• Supporters counter that simple, universal tasks are chosen so audiences can extrapolate to their own domains, and that live failures don’t negate long‑term potential.

AR glasses: impressive hardware vs surveillance platform

• Several commenters are genuinely impressed by the glasses hardware (waveguide display, neural band, hands‑free interaction) and see real utility in cooking, dirty or hands‑on jobs, and posture‑friendly use.
• Others argue the core product is an ad network strapped to your face—continuous lifelogging and “mass surveillance,” especially concerning given Meta’s track record. Even non‑users could be captured by others’ glasses.

Live demos, WiFi blame, and staging

• There’s debate over whether blaming “WiFi issues” was a sincere excuse, an inside joke referencing earlier Apple demos, or just reflexive hand‑waving.
• Broader discussion notes that big‑tech keynotes (Apple, Google, Microsoft) routinely stage or tightly script demos; live risk is admired but also seen as unnecessary showmanship.

AI hype, Meta’s role, and community tone

• Strong skepticism that current AI justifies the cost and environmental impact; some see it as snake oil, FOMO‑driven spending, and a future bubble.
• Others welcome heavy investment as technological progress and defend doing hard live demos.
• Meta and Zuckerberg draw intense moral criticism (addictive products, misinformation, anticompetitive behavior), which fuels schadenfreude at the failure.
• A side thread worries that the gleeful pile‑on and moral grandstanding make the discussion feel increasingly like Reddit, with less nuanced technical analysis and more reflexive big‑tech bashing.