The Real-World Filter Conundrum

AI already shapes the content you see on your phone. The headlines. The comments you notice. The voices that feel loudest. But what happens when that same filtering starts applying to your surroundings?

Not hypothetically, this is already beginning. Early tools let people mute distractions, rewrite signage, adjust lighting, or even soften someone’s voice in real time. It’s clunky now, but the trajectory is clear.

Soon, you might walk through the same room as someone else and experience a different version of it. One of you might see more smiles, hear less noise, feel more calm. The other might notice none of it. You’re physically together, but the world is no longer a shared experience.

These filters can help you focus, reduce anxiety, or cope with overwhelm. But they also create distance. How do you build real relationships when the people around you are living in versions of reality you can’t see?

The conundrum:

If AI could filter your real-world experience to protect your focus, ease your anxiety, and make daily life more manageable, would you use it, knowing it might make it harder to truly understand or connect with the people around you who are seeing something completely different? Or would you choose to experience the world as it is, with all its chaos and discomfort, so that when you show up for someone else, you’re actually in the same reality they are?

This podcast is created by AI.

We used ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google NotebookLM's audio overview to create the conversation you are hearing.

We do not make any claims to the validity of the information provided and see this as an experiment around deep discussions fully generated by AI.