Chris McCausland, the comedian and 2024 Strictly champion, explores how AI and technology could transform the lives of blind people in his new BBC documentary, Seeing into the Future. The show follows McCausland, who gradually lost his sight in his early 20s, as he travels to Silicon Valley and beyond to test cutting-edge innovations.
McCausland meets with Meta’s head of accessibility and tries on smart glasses with a live AI feature that can answer questions about the world around him. He also experiences a self-driving car in San Francisco, calling it the first time he’s been alone in a moving vehicle. Despite his usual stoicism, he is visibly moved when the AI describes a plane flying across the clouds.
At MIT, McCausland tests a bionic limb and learns about a nano chip that could potentially restore his vision and even make it superior to that of sighted people. The documentary highlights the life-changing potential of technology for disabled individuals, though it glosses over concerns about privacy and data ethics associated with big tech companies.
