“The question isn’t whether XRAI is coming. It is. The question is: will we let it fracture our minds even further – or will we choose to build it in a way that helps us all heal.”

You may not be able to finish this article.

Not because of its content – but because of your phone, your inbox, or the next notification buzzing in your pocket.

In only a couple of decades, our attention spans have dropped by more than half. I still remember being able to read through a three-page newspaper feature. Now I skim headlines, scan comments, and move on.

Everything is faster. Shorter. On to the next thing.

And the next thing is already happening. AI is everywhere – we already know that; but last month, Meta introduced their next generation of smart glasses – combining the power of AI with a HUD display, and controlled with a groundbreaking Neural Band device. They are not alone. Companies like XReal, Viture, and Snapchat are all racing for the next logical chapter of the story: merging the AI and internet with the physical world around us.

Here’s my point: AI and XR These are not separate trends. They’re colliding into XRAI: extended reality powered by AI. Personalized, filtered, and generated worlds – in other words: your own private matrix.

The Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde of XRAI

Every technology arrives as both miracle and menace. Electricity gave us light – and late work hours. The internet gave us knowledge – and conspiracy. XRAI will carry the same double edge.

Fractured Reality

• Hyde: Social media splintered truth. XRAI could splinter reality itself. Neighbors on the same street, seeing different overlays, selectively emphasizing, blurring, and hiding. If perception fragments – if we’re no longer even inhabiting the same world –  how do we agree on anything at all?
• Jekyll: The same tools could heal. Someone with anxiety might walk through calming visual environments. Neurodivergent users could see supportive cues in daily life. Therapy could be scaled and personalized, right in the world around us.

Addiction

• Hyde: Doomscrolling wasn’t an accident. Infinite feeds and reward loops were business models. If XRAI follows that path, it won’t just hijack our phones. It will hijack perception itself.
• Jekyll: It doesn’t have to. We can design for balance. In my own work at FloatVR, we reward frequency, not duration; and we’re even exploring subtle disincentives for overuse. Healthier habits can be built in. They can even be good business.

Creativity

• Hyde: Artists observe reality, then turn it into meaning we can share. If reality itself splinters, art loses its common ground. Losing art as a way of commenting about reality – our shared reality – has been a part of humanity since the days of living in caves. Creative expression is a basic human need – a major component of our society’s mental health.
• Jekyll: AI can also be a collaborator. XR can be an infinite canvas. XRAI could democratize creation, turning spectators into participants. And when more people create, more people heal.

Companionship

• Hyde: Algorithmic empathy is imperfect. What if your AI therapist misreads you? What if engagement is optimized over wellbeing? Dependence on machines that don’t truly understand us but appear as if they do, could end up deepening loneliness.
• Jekyll: But millions already use AI for comfort – and it does help. A companion that never judges, never leaves, never needs scheduling – that’s unprecedented. For many, it’s the first time they can share thoughts without fear.

The Choice

The historical pattern is clear: we adopt first, fix later. Meditation and usage-limiting apps were created only after smartphones collapsed our attention. And it’s not that we couldn’t anticipate it, or that we never had the chance to design differently. We did.

What if this time, we did it differently?

That choice lies in incentives. Do we reward balance or compulsion? Depth or distraction? Presence or escape? In XRAI, every design choice is a mental health choice.

On this World Mental Health Day, the storm and the rainbow are both ahead. The question isn’t whether XRAI is coming. It is. The question is: will we let it fracture our minds even further – or will we choose to build it in a way that helps us all heal.