Google Glass is dying. After two and a half years of beta-testing and a spate of $1,500-per-opt-in test drivers, or “Glass Explorers,” the product is still not finished. In July, the creator of the wearable technology, Babak Parviz, jumped shipped, and many companies, including Twitter, have already stopped developing apps for it. But what of the technology and what of the “information-rich lifestyle” the product promised? In a Q&A with Jon Swartz of USA Today, Professor Stephen Hawking talked with the reporter about artificial intelligence and human connectivity. “Communication is very important if one is disabled,” says Prof. Hawking. “Without it, one is powerless.” So, what happens next? How do we better enable this connection? Well, some companies have found a way and it is pretty cool.

Predictive text technology—the same kind that autocorrects “Adn” to “Adnan” if you’re listening to Serial right now, like I am—honed by Swiftkey, a British company outfitted with machine learning experts, has joined with technology from Intel to develop a new communications program. The program is ACAT: Assistive Context Aware Toolkit, and it is able to handle files, mail and Internet, can be activated by hand or head movement and is operated by a single switch. It’s amazing.

Before Prof. Hawking upgraded to ACAT, the system underwent three years of testing and evaluation. In situations like his, and for anyone relying on technology to communicate, the only acceptable type of change is flawless change. And that’s the wonder of technology, and harnessing artificial intelligence: the ability to create consistent, almost infallible products.

Of course, they are still products—and they are products controlled by fallible human beings. Google Glass was supposed to be the future, but is failing because there is no market for it, really, not the way it is being presented. But the technology is necessary and a building block for more advanced, more intuitive systems.

There is some fear of these advanced systems. Elon Musk called artificial intelligence “our biggest existential threat” and even Prof. Hawking expressed fear of a machine that could surpass human intelligence. But there is tremendous possibility, too. It is the advancement of technology that has allowed us to continue to learn from and engage in conversation with Prof. Hawking.

So, Google Glass may be dying, but the possibility inherent in technology is stronger than ever.

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