Apparently, Silicon Valley has declared a “war on screens,” according to a Jan. 1 headline. The article highlighted OpenAI’s hardware project, which is expected to be a screenless device crafted by former Apple designer Jony Ive. OpenAI acquired Ive’s company, io, last May for $6.5 billion and Foxconn has reportedly been hired to make as many as 50 million units — even though the device hasn’t yet been fully designed.
Other expert commentary touts a wholesale move toward “zero UI” ambient computing as a replacement for smartphones and other screen-based devices. The future, they say, is audio output and voice, gesture and sensor-based input.
One trend that emerged from last month’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was the range of devices that can record, analyze, and assist (using AI) without requiring visual focus.
Many tech startups are working on screenless AI hardware. Sandbar, founded by former employees of Meta, has a smart ring called Stream that serves as a passive controller for audio and voice notes, allowing users to interact with digital assistants. Another project comes from Eric Migicovsky, the founder of the original Pebble smartwatch. He’s offering a $75 ring with a button that records voice notes that are processed on a smartphone by AI.
Bee is another always-on, screenless wearable (it can be worn as a bracelet or on a necklace) that passively listens to people within range of its microphone, then uses AI to build summaries, extract reminders, and offer insights based on the conversations it hears. Amazon bought Bee in July.
Even Apple is reportedly getting into the screenless wearable market; the Silicon Valley giant is developing an AirTag-sized device that processes voice commands, hand gestures and other visual information. (Lenovo and HP also have screenless AI devices.)
One reason these devices are more viable now than in the past is the miniaturization of duplex audio, which enables constant, bi-directional conversation where the AI can be interrupted or talk over the user naturally.
While all these screenless devices are popping up for the general public, parents, teachers and schools are becoming increasingly concerned about the effect on kids of too much screen time. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), for example, released a new policy statement in January called “Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents,” which updates its recommendations regarding children and media use. The guidance marks a significant shift away from focusing solely on strict “screen time,” saying that limiting screen time for kids is important, but doesn’t go far enough; a whole re-think about how kids interact with technology is needed.
A report this month from The Business Research Company even predicts that the market for screenless, ambient computing devices will exceed $200 billion by 2030.
Reading all this news, the casual reader might be forgiven for falsely believing that a revolution against screens is emerging and that the era of AI wearables won’t have displays. But that’s not necessarily the case.
The future isn’t screenless
If you look carefully at the world of screenless wearables, you can see that none of them are designed to be used in isolation. They’re all peripherals to screen-based devices such as smartphones.
And while the Ray-Ban Meta type audio AI glasses are great, the future of AI glasses is closer to the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses with one screen or two screens in the glass.
There’s no way companies like Apple will offer alternatives to their own popular screen-based devices. Going totally screenless is for kids. Or rather, it should be.
There’s just one problem. Schools are moving in the opposite direction with bans all over the place.
Education can’t learn
Leaders and schools all over the world are taking smartphones out of classrooms to reduce distractions and help support students’ mental health. The number of countries banning phones in schools jumped to about 40% by 2024.
In the United States, the idea of taking phones out of schools highlights a rare instance of bipartisan agreement. By September, 35 states had passed laws or rules to ban cell phones in class. Texas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Louisiana have all banned phones in schools, as has . Los Angeles, CA (which has a district with more than a half-million students).
Europe and Asia are enforcing similarly strict rules. France was the first to act, banning smartphone use in grade schools and high schools in 2018. The Netherlands launched its own ban in January 2024. South Korea last August passed a law that stops students from using mobile phones during class. And Australia has gone even further: beyond banning phones in public schools. (The Australian government also decided in December to ban social media completely for anyone under age 16.)
In addition to banning smartphones, many of these same legislatures and school districts are banning screenless wearables, too. Schools prohibit the smartwatches mainly because they believe the devices can still distract and could enable kids to cheat on tests.
In fact, the big four states — California, Texas, Florida and New York — have districts where wearables of all kinds are explicitly banned.
But remember: even if parents feel smartphones harm their kids, they still want to be able to contact them and see their location on a map. That’s something screenless wearables like watches could enable.
Banning screenless wearables is impossible
Everyone should allow, and even encourage, kids and teens to use screenless wearable devices, especially watches. The devices enable productivity-enhancing features like timers, alarms and reminders. They give kids access to reference information. They let parents and students contact each other. And they can do all this without addictive, toxic features and gamified social features.
Beyond that, wearables cannot realistically be banned. Most of them are tiny. If schools are concerned about haptic interruptions and cheating, they should remember that these devices can fit in a pocket, a sock or elsewhere on or in clothing.
The only way to enforce a ban is to conduct a thorough search on every student every day before school — something that’s totally impractical and undesirable.
Instead, schools, parents and teachers should all be uniting behind the best screenless wearables for students as a workable alternative to obsessive smartphone and screen use.
The reality is that the total ubiquity of AI is coming. There’s the toxic version — the rise of AI slop, for instance — and the non-toxic version. The latter comes in the form of screenless wearables that offer handy access to AI chatbots and a few other features, without the damaging, attention-draining, sleep-depriving effect of smartphones and visual social media.
The future isn’t screenless. But for kids, it should be.
