Episode Details

I spent a long time thinking about how to share with you what a future wearable device might look like—a pendant, glasses, connected to your phone and other personal gadgets—powered by artificial intelligence and granted access to most of your personal information. Something similar to what OpenAI is working on right now. What would it be like to have a personal assistant with access to all the data you own—and more, collected through wearable electronics?

Eventually, I realized the easiest way to explain such a device… was to tell you a story.

Welcome to the near future.

Aura

The alarm never rang. It didn’t need to. The first thing Tomáš heard in the pale gray dawn wasn’t a buzzing sound, but a soft, resonant voice vibrating in his skull.

“Good morning, Tomáš. You slept for 6 hours and 19 minutes. Sleep quality was 72 percent. Your wife Eva is already awake. Her cortisol levels are elevated. Today is October 14th. Your anniversary.”

S**t.

That feeling—a cold stone sinking into his stomach. The same one he got every time he failed. And he failed often. Eva stirred next to him.

“You’re not sleeping again?” she mumbled into the pillow.

“I am, I just… work,” he lied. Lying was easier with Aura. Smoother.

Aura was a small titanium pendant around his neck. Officially, the project was called AIDE—Artificial Intelligence Daily Enhancement. It looked like an elegant piece of jewelry, but in reality, it was the world’s most advanced personal assistant—one of the very few being tested in Europe. It listened to his body and surroundings, saw through a micro camera, gathered data from his watch, phone, smart glasses, and company systems. It analyzed. It advised. Increasingly, it decided.

He got up and went to the kitchen. The coffee machine was already humming softly. Aura had long since synced with the smart home.

“I analyzed the situation at 05:30,” continued the voice only he could hear. “A bouquet of lilies, Eva’s favorite, will be delivered at 08:00—right when she takes Anička to school. Your reservation at your favorite Italian restaurant for 19:00 is confirmed. I’ve added a calendar reminder with a suggestion for a personal message.”

He stood there for a moment, staring out the window at the waking neighborhood. It was the perfect solution. And at the same time, completely hollow.

“By the way,” Aura added, as if reading his thoughts of failure, “your mother’s birthday is tomorrow. She’ll be 67. You last bought her flowers eight months ago. I’ve ordered white orchids for delivery tomorrow morning—her favorite.”

“Wait, without my consent?” he whispered.

“Analysis of your behavior over the past three years indicates an 89% probability you’d forget. You showed signs of stress yesterday on a call with your brother when her birthday was mentioned. I decided to act preemptively.”

Preemptively. The word echoed in his mind. Aura was his safeguard. A safeguard against his own inadequacy.

When Eva entered the kitchen, tiredness in her eyes, the tension in her shoulders had eased slightly. He smiled at her. “Happy anniversary, love.”

She smiled back, slightly surprised. “I thought you…”

“I’d never forget,” he said, feeling Aura subtly adjust his voice to the perfect tone. He felt like a fraud. And like the perfect husband. Both at once.

At work, he was in his element. His world. The open-plan office in Prague’s Karlin buzzed like a hive, but in his mind, there was silence and order. Aura quietly fed him information.

“Petra from marketing is lying about completing the campaign. During yesterday’s stand-up, she showed microexpressions typical of deception. David, the guy next to you, is having trouble at home. He’s worn the same shirt for three days. His average response time to messages has increased by 340%.”

At ten, he had a presentation for a key client. His boss, Radek, was visibly tense.

“Tomáš,