Meta is facing public backlash over its AI glasses, with musician Lorde telling her audience, “Don’t get the glasses,” online users branding them “pervert glasses,” and activist group Everyone Hates Elon posting spoof adverts featuring Jeffrey Epstein. Meta has responded by patching the specs to prevent modders from using the camera despite disabling the recording light, and Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced harassment videos shot using Meta glasses will be banned from the platform. Despite this, the author’s wife Izzy wore her white-and-gold Oakley HSTN specs nearly all the time during their honeymoon in Tenerife. The author tested Ray-Ban Meta Optics styles, and both pairs proved useful for open-ear speakers, touch controls, and AI translations that helped decipher Spanish labels on shampoos and conditioners after a travel mishap. The article concludes that a middle ground needs to be found to maximize privacy and utility.