AI Smart Glasses Promise Workplace Wonders, Compliance Risks (news.bloomberglaw.com)

AI-powered smart glasses are rapidly moving from niche pilots into mainstream industry and consumer markets. ABI Research projects shipments rising from 3.3 million units in 2024 to 13 million in 2026, and major players are already fielding products—Meta unveiled an AI glasses line for retail on Sept. 17, while RealWear, Vuzix and others support clients such as Coca‑Cola, Ford, Shell, Amazon and Doctors Without Borders. Use cases span guided picking and assembly, “cobotics” collaboration on factory floors, live surgical support and training, and automated documentation and reporting powered by on‑device object detection, real‑time AI answers, video calls and AI‑generated visual overlays. That upside carries thorny legal, privacy and compliance risks. Continuous cameras and microphones can reveal proprietary processes, capture bystanders or customers, and create unprecedented workplace surveillance—prompting California legislation (AB1331) and fresh scrutiny of contracts and audit trails. Vendors point to technical mitigations like selective data capture, automatic face blurring, geofencing/lockdown of devices and narrow task‑specific models, but employers remain legally exposed (e.g., during OSHA walkthroughs) and must vet contracts, compliance controls and retention policies. For AI/ML practitioners, the trend highlights priorities: robust on‑device privacy controls, explainable capture policies, secure model/data pipelines and compliance-by-design to balance productivity gains with regulatory and ethical safeguards.