Technology is often designed to help us move faster.
Faster communication. Faster work. Faster answers. Faster access to information.
But what if the next evolution of technology isn’t about helping us do more?
What if it is about helping us become more aware?
That question sits at the center of Lyle Maxson’s work. A technologist, entrepreneur, and futurist, Lyle has spent years exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence, immersive technology, mental health, consciousness, and human potential. His work is guided by a philosophy he calls benevolent technology, a framework for using exponential technologies to propel humanity forward while deepening self-awareness, emotional intelligence, presence, and human connection.
Now, as the founder and CEO of ABOVE, Lyle is taking that philosophy into a new frontier with what he calls Reflective AI.
The Question Behind Everything: Can Technology Make Us More Human?
Lyle’s career may span seemingly different worlds, but he says there has always been a through-line.
Benevolent technology.
For Lyle, the question isn’t simply whether a technology is powerful. It is what we choose to do with that power.
“How do we utilize all this exponential technology to actually propel humanity forward?” he asks.
That distinction becomes increasingly important as artificial intelligence becomes embedded into everyday life.
The prevailing conversation around AI often centers on productivity, efficiency, automation, and convenience. Lyle is interested in a different possibility: using technology to help people become more connected rather than more distracted.
His goal is not to create technology that replaces the human experience.
It is to create technology that strengthens it.
We’ve Been Tracking Everything Except the Human Experience
When Jules asks Lyle what people may be missing in the larger technology conversation, he points to an emerging category that remains relatively unfamiliar: consciousness technology.
Most conversations about “tech for good” tend to revolve around familiar categories such as education, physical fitness, mental health, physiology, and longevity.
Consciousness technology is different.
Lyle explains that its evolution has happened in waves.
The first wave emerged in the 1980s with biofeedback and neurofeedback, giving people ways to understand brain activity, brainwave states, and how those states could be influenced.
The second wave arrived through more educational and experiential technologies in the 2000s and 2010s, including meditation-oriented tools and platforms such as Muse, Headspace, and Calm.
Now, Lyle believes we are entering a third wave.
AI and spatial computing are making it possible to create experiences that are far more personalized and connected to an individual’s actual growth journey. Rather than simply providing generalized guidance, technology can begin responding to the person using it.
And that opens up an entirely different question:
What if technology could help us understand not just what is happening in our lives, but why?
From Video Games to “Upgrading the Real-World Avatar”
Lyle’s interest in this space didn’t begin with artificial intelligence.
Earlier in his career, he worked in video game publishing and became fascinated by the possibility of using games for something beyond entertainment.
He explored what he described as “Games for Good,” designing experiences intended to create positive mind-body effects, including meditation and physical fitness-related games.
His thinking was simple but unconventional: instead of spending all our time upgrading fictional characters inside virtual worlds, what if technology could help us upgrade the real-world avatar that is ourselves?
That idea eventually led him into digital therapeutics.
Lyle and a co-founder took intellectual property they had been developing in gaming and moved into medical technology, exploring clinical trials and FDA-regulated digital therapeutics at a time when the category was still relatively new.
From there, his path continued into immersive technology.
Lyle connected with partners and members of Meta’s executive team, eventually receiving a significant grant to build a consumer VR education platform. The vision was to transform traditional e-learning into what he called “vLearning,” moving from passive, two-dimensional experiences into social, spatial, interactive environments.
Then came another pivot.
After a sabbatical, Lyle was exposed to AI hardware.
And he noticed the same problem again.
Technology was becoming increasingly powerful, but much of its focus remained on productivity.
What was missing was mindfulness.
What was missing was connection.
“How do you use these technologies, not to just make people more productive, but actually make them more connected?” became the question.
Meet Reflective AI: The Technology That Acts Like a Mirror
That question ultimately became ABOVE.
The term “Reflective AI” came from the way Lyle and his team were thinking about the technology.
Lyle had been calling the AI they were developing a mirror.
A friend eventually gave the concept a name: Reflective AI.
The distinction matters.
Lyle doesn’t see AI as something that should make every decision for us. In fact, he describes himself as leaning closer to the Luddite side of the technology spectrum than the techno-optimist side.
He doesn’t believe technology is going to save humanity.
Instead, he is interested in using technology intentionally.
As the team developed the underlying AI infrastructure for ABOVE, they became increasingly aware of the bias present in existing AI systems. Different foundational models can produce different answers based on what they have been trained on, the information they contain, and the perspectives embedded within them.
For a tool intended to help someone understand themselves, Lyle believed that was a problem.
So ABOVE was designed around a different premise: make the technology as objective as possible and minimize the lens of bias, dogma, or unsolicited advice.
Instead, it reflects the person back to themselves.
Lyle compares it to having a good friend who can step outside the relationship and offer an honest perspective.
Not necessarily what you want to hear.
But sometimes what you need to hear.
It might surface hard truths. It might reflect patterns. It might point toward ways someone could show up differently.
The technology isn’t supposed to tell you who to become.
It is designed to help you see yourself more clearly.
What If Your Wearable Could Tell You the Why?
Lyle describes ABOVE as the “first wearable for your mind.”
That positioning becomes clearer when he compares it with the wearables people already know.
Today, people can track sleep, steps, activity, fitness, blood markers, and other physiological data.
But those measurements largely tell us what is happening.
Your sleep score is low.
Your activity is down.
Your motivation has changed.
But the more interesting question may be:
Why?
Lyle’s vision is to connect the mental, emotional, and relational dimensions to the physical data people are already collecting.
Why was your sleep score bad?
Could it have something to do with the argument you had with a coworker three times this week?
Why aren’t you motivated to work out?
What else is happening beneath the surface?
ABOVE also encourages users to use the device as an audio journal, whether they’re driving, walking, beginning their morning, or simply processing their thoughts.
The more insight a person gives the system into how they think about the world, the more it can reflect those patterns back to them and potentially help steer better outcomes.
That is where the concept becomes bigger than a wearable.
It’s not simply measuring the body.
It’s creating a feedback loop for awareness.
Technology as Training Wheels for Consciousness
Lyle doesn’t position ABOVE as a replacement for human relationships or existing personal-growth practices.
Instead, he describes it as supplemental.
A friend of his calls it “training wheels for consciousness.”
The idea is that the technology can help people notice things they may otherwise miss, while still bringing those insights back into the real world and into relationships with actual humans.
That distinction is particularly important to Lyle because he sees a darker side to the rapidly evolving relationship between humans and AI.
He believes we need to keep a human in the loop rather than allowing AI to make our decisions for us.
He also raises concerns about AI companionship and the speed at which artificial systems can create attachment and intimacy, particularly when platforms are designed around keeping users engaged.
For Lyle, that is precisely the wrong direction.
The goal shouldn’t be deeper dependence on technology.
The goal should be deeper connection with ourselves and with other people.
The Missing Piece in Personal Growth Might Be Personalization
Traditional personal-growth tools can be incredibly valuable.
Meditation apps. Books. Courses. Retreats. Therapy. Workshops.
But they generally offer a generalized experience to a large group of people.
AI introduces the possibility of something different: personalization at scale.
Instead of giving everyone the same meditation, the same lesson, or the same reflection, technology can begin responding to an individual’s unique patterns and growth journey.
For Lyle, that’s where consciousness technology becomes particularly interesting.
The technology isn’t the destination.
Awareness is.
Two Years to the Starting Line
Building ABOVE wasn’t an overnight experiment.
By the time Lyle and Jules spoke, the company had been roughly two years in the making.
And even after all that work, Lyle joked that they had only just reached the starting line.
The wearable had launched approximately six weeks earlier, making the conversation less about celebrating a finished product and more about stepping into the beginning of an entirely new experiment.
That may be one of the most revealing parts of Lyle’s story.
For someone working at the frontier of technology, there is still a willingness to admit that the work is unfinished.
The product is evolving.
The category is emerging.
And the larger question remains open:
Can technology genuinely help us become more conscious?
Beyond What Society Says We Should Want
Near the end of the conversation, Jules asks Lyle what living an unconventional life means to him.
His answer brings the entire conversation full circle.
“Following your Dharma.”
For Lyle, living unconventionally isn’t simply about rejecting conventional paths for the sake of being different.
It is about following purpose and passion regardless of what society says you should do.
He acknowledges that this path can be more difficult than choosing comfort, convenience, or the job that appears safe from the outside.
He remembers a tarot card he used to pull regularly: “Not all that glitters is gold.”
The lesson stayed with him.
Look beyond the superficial markers society tells us to pursue.
Follow your heart.
Follow your passions.
And, importantly, build something that supports not only yourself, but your community and the world around you.
Use that as your North Star.
The Future of Technology Might Be More Human
Lyle Maxson’s work sits at an unusual intersection.
Technology and consciousness.
Artificial intelligence and self-awareness.
Wearables and emotional intelligence.
Innovation and the deeply human need for connection.
But perhaps the most unconventional part of his philosophy is that he isn’t asking us to choose between humanity and technology.
He’s asking us to rethink what technology is for.
The next generation of technology doesn’t have to pull us further away from ourselves.
It can help us notice.
Reflect.
Understand.
And ultimately, connect.
The future may not belong to the technology that captures the most attention.
It may belong to the technology that helps us become more aware of where that attention is going in the first place.
A Special Giveaway for Unconventional Life Listeners
As part of the launch of ABOVE, Lyle is giving one lucky Unconventional Life listener an ABOVE wearable.
Because ABOVE had not yet launched its subscription at the time of the interview, Lyle is also including a free one-year subscription for the winner.
Connect with Lyle
- Go Above AI: https://goabove.ai/
- Website: https://lylemaxson.com/
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lylemaxson
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lylemaxson/
