PRIVACY LOST, a new short film released at Augmented World Expo (AWE), highlights the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered mixed reality (MR).

The film depicts how AI-powered immersive technologies could threaten our privacy in dangerous new ways and enable new forms of emotional and behavioral manipulation, and the film’s producers call for regulation that protects our emotional privacy and bans real-time manipulation by AI-generated conversational spokespeople.

Developed with support from Minderoo Pictures, the Responsible Metaverse Alliance, and the XR Guild, PRIVACY LOST aims to educate the public and policymakers about the emerging risks.

The film was written and produced by Dr. Louis Rosenberg, an early VR researcher who developed the first MR system at Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) three decades ago and is now a vocal advocate for regulation. The film was shot at HeadQ Productions, a virtual studio outside Amsterdam led by director and producer, Peter Stoel.

“Mixed reality is an amazing technology that will free computing from the limitations of the flat screen,” explained Rosenberg at the AWE 2023. “But without guardrails, it could also allow tech platforms to track everything we do and monitor exactly how we feel while doing it. This could be used to influence our behaviors through AI-generated content that adapts to our every emotion. This is profoundly dangerous.”

“The risks to children are the most concerning,” added Dr. Catriona Wallace, founder of the Responsible Metaverse Alliance. “AI-powered characters like the teddy bear depicted in Privacy Lost could easily influence and manipulate kids. The technology to achieve this already exists, and without regulation these tactics are likely to be deployed in the near future.”

PRIVACY LOST is freely available online in hope that is shared widely. Click here to watch the film for free.