'Worst in Show' CES products include AI refrigerators, AI companions and AI doorbells
1d 9h ago by lemmy.nz/u/throws_lemy in technology from apnews.com
Samsung said in response that “a trade show floor is naturally very different from a consumer’s home environment. Our Bespoke AI experiences are designed to simplify decisions around the home, making life more convenient and enjoyable.”
The South Korean tech giant also said “security and privacy are foundational” to the AI experiences in the fridge.
They deserve to sell none of their shitty fridges.
This is the same Samsung that sold fridges with giant LCD screens on them, ostensibly to help the buyer, but then later turned that expensive screen into a billboard showing ads to the fridge buyer in their kitchen (source). Samsung has shown who they are. Anyone that buys an AI fridge from them will have no one to blame but themselves.
I feel like the problem here is that you get people who are curious or like the other features the fridge has and just get what they can when theirs goes out. And while, sure, those people learn not to do that again, by that point the industry used that sales data as a "they must like it, lets do it across the board!" Instead of asking people or taking anything else into account when figuring out what products to continue making.
In 10 yrs when those fridges die and people who "learned their lesson" go to buy a new fridge, there will be zero fridges without AI because marketing thought thats why they bought it and no one has any ability to buy a non-AI fridge anymore.
I think you are giving people too much credit. Lots of people have a budget they can spend on appliances (like a credit line) and they get the best (most expensive) one they can get on that budget. Others will do the opposite and get the cheapest but only people like you find on Lemmy (Linux users for instance) in my experience will make a choice in the middle based on feature set.
In 10 yrs when those fridges die and people who “learned their lesson” go to buy a new fridge
That's more like two years for Samsung fridges, where the designers and builders spend all of their time on fancy horseshit and ignore basic requirements like "keep the food cold".
I feel like the problem here is that you get people who are curious or like the other features the fridge has and just get what they can when theirs goes out. And while, sure, those people learn not to do that again,
Part of what makes us intelligent is learning from others. I guess I would expect buyers to do even the most basic research on a large dollar figure purchase which would likely expose them to the headlines about Samsung putting ads on fridges after the sale.
Do people actually just walk into an appliance store and just drop more than $1k on what they see on the floor without researching reliability, warranty, or other features from articles and news sources?
I did buy a replacement refrigerator based on "no ice dispenser, fits in available space" on a Saturday when mine let out the magic smoke that morning. It was delivered the next day and worked out ok.
I would not get something fancier without doing research. This one was literally the only refrigerator that fit the bill at the store (weird-sized refrigerator alcove)
Apparently a large percentage of people buy cars without test driving them... so probably.
These also have an entire computer running Tizen behind the screen in the door, which generates waste heat and dumps it... into your refrigerator. Genius!
“security and privacy are foundational” to the AI experiences in the fridge
My AI-less, internet-less fridge is quite private and secure. Furthermore, it keeps food perfectly cold!
It isn't sexy, but products that just work are 100x better than products with 40 features that can all brick it for no reason or annoy you to death.
It might not be sexy, but I'd argue it doesn't need AI to be.
Take the SMEG ones as an example - they're not my cup of tea, but the amount of people who are willing to pay a premium for a fridge that doesn't do anything special other than looking nice shows clearly that.
They might also be paying a premium for a refrigerator with that name specifically.
Smeg-heads do be like that.
that's ma SMEG. They really should think of a name change.
There's an effort combination here - to buy things that just work, you need not only demand, but their sufficient production and companies choosing that niche to concentrate, because they don't have an option of something with "AI".
It's like negotiation, of what to produce. There's elasticity of demand based on niche similar to that of demand by price. If you need a fridge and there are only AI fridges offered, you'll buy an AI fridge.
So you won't be able to buy something that just works when all companies with sufficient power to design and produce fridges want AI.
There's also some stickiness there, like a hysteresis, and the current combined effort at AI promotion, even if not at equilibrium of said AI's attractiveness for said elasticity, will hold. Unless there will be another combined effort at killing it with fire.
That is similar to 4:3 display ratio, ergonomic user interfaces, or perhaps home appliances that came with schematics, but not anymore.
Do they... do they know what the C in CES stands for?
Judging from the way AMD got up and spent all their time talking about their data centre products, nobody does.
Nothing now. The branding has completely pivoted, CES isn't even an acronym anymore.
cunts
Connected?
The South Korean tech giant also said “security and privacy are foundational” to the AI experiences in the fridge.
suck it, Jin Yang
I've had a few Samsung appliances. They are, by far, the worst appliances I've owned. I will not be buying another from them. If they want to make life more convenient, they need to make better devices, not shove screens, wifi, and AI into their crappy products.
Don't worry, in the realm of major appliances the majority of what these bozos are calling "AI" actually isn't. They're just using it as a buzzword because they think it's popular.
LG, selling a washing machine two years ago: "It has weight sensors to determine the load size."
LG, selling the same damn washing machine today: "With exclusive LG® AI DD™ Technology!!!"
Even their older, simpler fridges are crappy. We bought one because our previous fridge conked out in mid-pandemic when the selection of new appliances was low. It lasted about three years before developing an issue that would have cost us more to fix than just replacing the damned thing. So we replaced it with some cheaper probably-Chinese brand I'd never heard of before and will never buy another Samsung appliance again if we can help it. AI will just add expensive, useless functions on top of their already poor design and dubious manufacturing.
In other words, if these become the only fridges in existence, I may just try to find out where I can purchase an old-fashioned icebox.
I have a rule: if the company has ever made a mobile phone or TV I will never buy their appliance.
a trade show floor is naturally very different from a consumer’s home environment.
So it's like fashion shows, where they have the most ridiculous shit walking down the catwalk, instead of actual clothes that people will wear?
And they'll probably shut down the AI servers in a few years for cost reduction making the whole thing a huge waste of money.
That's the point.
probably shut down the AI servers in a few years for cost reduction making the whole thing a huge waste of money.
It's like you've seen the Portal video chat units. (What a beautiful piece of hardware)
I'd be unemployed and in trouble, but sometimes I do wish a gigantic solar storm would cut off the internet for a year. Humanity needs the reset. Please stop shoving Wi-Fi into every device.
Things that can be wifi: my light switches and anything that might’ve had an analog timer back in the day. Anything critical? You can buy an analog sensor that will beep if it’s out of limits, like a freezer alarm.
The rest can f right off.
Light switches can also not be wifi. Hell, id personally prefer them not to
I only use hardwired Ethernet for my light switches
Link to said device?
I was being ironic, I am not aware of any such device
Damn, I had slight hopes such a thing existed
It might but if so I'm not aware of it
I'm sure they do, but probably in the industrial control sense.
X10 might work if you just need simple signaling.
So regular demotica/hone automation light switches it is
Obviously it would be a choice to have them wifi or not, opt-in, not opt-out. I wasn’t implying anything should be automatically wifi.
Everything having connectivity is cool, I like automating stuff, the issue is it feeding all of your information to a company to profit off of it or worse.
Have you ever seen the commercials from late 1800s where there is the word "electricity" in everything. Electrotherapy for every ill and electric solution for every type of drudgery, electrolyte drinks and whatnot. Same came with discovery of radioactivity. Radium drinks for long life and all that. AI is the modern buzzword for the modern snakeoil salesman.
I remember a story my Dad told me. His boss comes in and goes "we need a computer" (this was the 80s). He asked "why". He couldn't answer.
AI now is like that, except when someone asks "why", they get fired and the boss slams it in anyway. It doesn't make the product better or even more attractive. Dell has admitted that and is the only company to admit that. At best it's a shite search engine that's being forced on everyone against their will.
AI chat bots should be OPTIONAL, not forced onto people against their will. At best it's a shitty search engine, at worse it is a slop machine.
Only practical solution I can think of for an AI chatbot is an optional voice mode where you can go to, say, a ticket machine and be all "hey, cheapest fare to Dundee" or something and it gives you it, but that can be done without fucking the environment and eating all the ram by just having better UI design.
AI chat bots are actually a useful workaround for shitty web uis now. When you don't know which icon is hiding the thing you want, you can just ask the AI to do it for you.
At the same time, they could easily be a crutch. Why bother designing a good, accessible website if most of the users are just going to access it via a chatbot?
- I wonder how many enemies Dell made with that lol
- AI chatbots work as customer side if implemented well (if chatbot does not have options, it won't work well) and if customers don't knee-jerk into repeating they want human without checking it's options first (which, understandably, came from dealing with badly implemented chatbots). Their search is quite alright for polling public opinions (useful for example if you are lazy and wanna find overall popular film from some genre - it can summarise reddit, google, few review sites and spit the effects at you).
I know, I know. We are anti-AI here. But please, don't be simply cynic. This tech has it's uses, but is so badly used across everything that it's hard not to be negative of it.
Like Bluetooth and IoT before it.
Very good comparison actually.
I'm just going to install a door knocker.
The hot new category at CES 2027 is going to be AI-powered auto door knockers.
"It automatically does a facial scan of any household visitors using Palantir's database and knocks the way they would have."
"Couldn't they just, you know, knock?"
"Sure, but then how would we track who's visiting you while making you pay the power bill for our surveillance devices?"
I refuse to buy "smart devices" riddled with AI, it's just a drag and not what this tech should be used for.
true
But not for eating. Don't trust AI for food or other safety.
AI can eat and sleep instead of you
Not a hotdog
I'm astounded there hasn't been a legal case already where some AI customer service bot hallucinated and promised a customer a million dollars or something and they're trying to claim it. Set that precedent and companies would be dropping those AI clankers right quick.
there has! AI customer bot said they'd be a different price and they forced the flight company to uphold said price.
there was a case where a consumer was promised something by an AI chatbot and the company tried to renege on it
sorry I don't really remember any details about it, although I am pretty sure that it was ruled the company had to uphold the chatbot response. Oh I think part of their defense was that the chatbot was an external company or something
edit: found it, looks like the same story the other user referenced
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240222-air-canada-chatbot-misinformation-what-travellers-should-know
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aircanada-chatbot-discount-customer/
About the Bosch E-Bike, I have a bike with a Bosch motor and they really are that bad. The bike comes with an app and you need to give them your personal data to "unlock" basic features of the app and an electronic bike lock. If you want to let another person use that bike, you need a subscription. I deleted the app. Fuck Bosch.
Are alternative firmwares available?
Didn't find anything, and it would probably void the warranty. But on the upside, using the app isn't necessary to operate the bike, and the most important features work with the controller/display on the handlebar. The motor lock is disabled for now and I'm resorting to more traditional methods of bike security... a chain lock. The motor lock has a huge disadvantage anyways because it depends on a bluetooth connection to the app on a phone. If that phone for some reason doesn't work or is unavailable then the bike is essentially bricked. It's a heavy and bulky cargo bike, so being stranded somewhere with a blocked motor would be bad.
I'd return it for not meeting basic product expectations.
Screaming is well and good to build public opinion against this stupidity, but all the CEOs in their towers will heed is no sales.
We need to make it uncool to like or tolerate AI bullshit in consumer products.
If you have friends, and they show you their new fridge with a touch screen, don't be polite. Tell them it's the stupidest thing you've ever seen, and then mock them for choosing it every chance you get. And, no, I don't have friends anymore (but, this is not why).
Heckling your friends after they dropped $3k on some sloppy fridge is kinda cruel. Advise them hard when they ask for advice - here's where you say "everyone will laugh" and "stupidest idea" - but commiserate when they realize what they've got.
You want to be in a position to offer advice for the next sloppy purchase.
Could preface it with "are you still in the return period for this thing?".
Hey…ummm, can we be friends?
Hilarious. I bite my tongue so often around these kinds of situations it has permanent tooth imprints in it. But you're right, someone needs to figure out how to get them to stop tolerating this horrific nonsense.
I'm holding off until HD AI.
3D A.I.
AI eXtreme!
We're going back to the late nineties.
iAI
I just installed a new doorbell button, the little light burned out in my old one.
I don't have a "security" camera. As far as I can tell, all they do is provide a memento of the crime after the fact, and prompt my neighbors to worry about "suspicious" people outside walking. They seem to do the opposite of making people feel more secure. They seem to raise anxiety.
My dad installed cheap chinese cams all over his place and his job now is to check the footage to see if there is anything suspicious. There's never anything suspicious and he's just wasting his time while also getting more paranoid. The biggest issue I see is that he hoards chinesium and bloats his phone with it. It' infuriating.
Cameras don't stop anyone, but I still have few recording my yard. It's more of a hobby and I'm planning to integrate person detection on those to home automation but for me it's also a small piece of peace on my mind. Should someone steal my car trailer (or a car) I'd have some footage for the police and insurance. Also a while ago we had a decent storm around and we weren't at home so it was nice that I could check for possible damages remotely.
But absolute majority of time I don't even think about them. I don't have any notifications enabled, I'm not interested about neighbors cat running across our yard or getting interruptions every time someone on the family comes or goes. And while Frigate has some AI things built in, the whole thing runs locally. There's no way I'd install nest or some other camera which sends/stores data to anywhere which isn't 100% in my control.
I have a button for a doorbell at my door. Hasn't worked since I moved in. If I wanted it to work and raise anxiety I would figure out how to make it spray water on whoever is at the door.
What's worse than that are the fully camera, gyroscope, and GPS equipped children's toys that send all their data to an AI server.
Gyroscope, fine, I can understand them trying to understand how the toy is utilised.
GPS? Fuck off.
CAMERA?! What in the ever loving...
Yeah, so there are these kids toys at CES now that are always watching and always listening. Gyroscope if the toy is being picked up and moved, GPS to track where in the house it is, or where it's going outside.
It's loaded with voice and facial recognition that can track moods and environmental context. But obviously it doesn't work offline. It has no on board AI, so all the data is sent to a service somewhere which will generate responses for the toy.
I wish it was just one such product being promoted at CES, but I've seen several videos now of multiple upstart toy tech brands selling similar AI plushies and such.
That is 100% going to record some kid changing, and knowing how these companies do 'AI' it's probably going to be sent to some random person in India to process.
This year, it is no longer Consumer Electronics Show... it's now Corporate Electronics Show.
🌍👨🚀🔫👨🚀
What?
It's a reference to the "Always has been" meme.
A consumer is just the opposite side of the same coin. Corporations exist because of customers and customers exist because of corporations.
a person who uses up a commodity; a purchaser of goods or services, a customer
Companies are always chasing stupid ideas. The AI fridge is the Twitter fridge of this decade, a stupid idea some business person was genius. We've always been this dumb.
https://loops.video/v/bePSFsDK7o
Why is that coffee machine showing me a picture of the Sydney Opera House instead of making coffee?
a candy that plays music while you eat it
What the heck. The whole paragraph is so ‘unnecessary technology’.
I watched a video about the worst of CES. I was kind of amused that some of the winners of worst-of weren't even new ideas
There was a candy I remember that from a long time ago, idk 2000ish? It was a lollipop you bit down on and you could hear music played through your teeth. I never tried it but it was sold where I worked
Another idea, the worst of the worst, was the smart fridge. I remember from business classes I took many years ago used that as an example of innovation. Or a "smart" microwave. You let it know what ingredients you have, for example by scanning the barcode, so it can recommend recipes or alert you when something is running low
The rendition of those ideas at the CES were so out of touch
Now if things you could do with simple if/else algorithms are using “AI”
at this point its a glorified Market Saturation.
I'm pretty sure I had a musical lollipop back in the 90s.
Edit: I found the commercial https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XoUGYfUvgn4
Oh I made another comment but this was what I was talking about! I was talking to my partner about it last night after watching the CES video. I couldn't remember the name but this is exactly it
I said it was "Rock Pops" because i think that's great
Rather freeze AI completely than use an AI refridgerator
https://youtu.be/cxZgILm95BU
I won’t buy AI stuff 🤮
It sucks.... really it sucksm
Cancer website
Howso?