I recently had the great pleasure of attending the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, billed as the world’s largest tech display. More than 4,000 exhibitors and a reported 130,000 attendees flocked to Sin City for it. My journey through the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center as a first-time attendee was not just an exploration of technology’s cutting edge, but a glimpse into the great minds driving tomorrow’s innovation.

The floors buzzed with anticipation as exhibitors from around the world unveiled technologies that promised to redefine our physical and digital realities. Traditional automakers are adapting to the advent of autonomous driving, generative artificial intelligence, electrification, and even flying cars. For example, Volkswagen has partnered with OpenAI to develop a virtual assistant that can answer questions about the vehicle and even conduct a general conversation using ChatGPT. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and many first-tier parts suppliers are all hopping on the bandwagon, incorporating the metaverse into their consumer products. How can I even keep my eyes on the road with so much cockpit entertainment!

The possibility of an autonomous car that’s able to engage in conversation is very enticing to the driver and passenger. A common theme from manufacturers is that they are merging hardware and software to create an unprecedented driving experience. Inside these cars, heads-up displays and AI-aided driving assists essentially gamify driving, as your commute between work and home becomes part of a digital social lifestyle. This futuristic vision of autonomy, though, brings with it a sense of ambiguity about human engagement. The tactile pleasure of driving, the satisfaction of navigating successfully, are at risk of being sidelined. If our experience is increasingly defined by software, where does that leave room for discovery, learning, and human-to-human interaction in our lives?

Somewhat discontented by the blandness of the metaverse, I made my way to the ground floor of the The Venetian hotel, where hundreds of startup entrepreneurs were eagerly awaiting potential investors’ patronage, hailing from every continent with the brightest ideas and crates upon crates of samples. It was heartening to see a vibrant sphere of human interaction amid the prevalence of screens. Here I had the privilege of talking with entrepreneurs and learning the stories of resilience and creativity behind their products. I was especially impressed by a French startup that specializes in designing carbon fiber composites for vehicle and airplane space frames. The founder, Jerome, told me that he spent more than a decade traveling across the world to find a manufacturing contractor for his special composite formula, and came to CES in Las Vegas hoping to find a U.S. distributor. After spending a whole afternoon in the startup pavilion, I walked away convinced that startup innovators are the bridges between innovation and humanity.

As I reflect on my CES journey, it’s clear that technology’s potential is limitless when driven by human creativity, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of innovation. Entrepreneurs dive into the unknown, go through trials and errors, before sharing their knowledge and products with the world—a very inherently human process. Looking into the metaverse, we can leverage augmented reality and AI to eliminate the physical distance between humans, fostering human connection in 3D spaces much beyond the flat screens of the digital age. Therefore, the journey ahead is not just about how technology can drive us forward, but about how we can steer technology to enrich genuine connection between humans—bringing us closer together in meaningful ways.