The trends for the coming year become visible at the American tech fair CES. Not surprising this time: artificial intelligence steals the show. Many new products will be equipped with AI in 2024, from mirrors to vacuum cleaners.
There are always trends that large companies respond to. In the past, tech fairs focused on 5G, virtual reality or the metaverse. And where products used to be labeled smart, it now seems fashionable to attach the letters AI to everything.
At CES, for example, Samsung showed a number of household appliances with new functions that, according to the company, we owe to artificial intelligence. For example, there is a vacuum cleaner that recognizes when laminate transitions to a deep-pile carpet, and the suction power is automatically adjusted.
The company Baracoda showed off a smart mirror that uses AI to improve your mental health. If you tell the mirror that you are having a bad day, it will come back with uplifting messages. The device can also guide meditations and provide light therapy.
Even pets will soon no longer be able to ignore artificial intelligence. The Minitailz collar from Invoxia has a GPS tracker so that a dog or cat is no longer lost, but uses AI to measure the health of the animal. For example, the collar can detect heart failure at an early stage, the makers promise.
Even mattresses are getting AI. This one from DeRUCCI measures, among other things, your heart rate and body temperature. Photo: AFP
AI sounds futuristic
For example, the stands at CES in Las Vegas were full of artificial intelligence. You will often encounter the letters AI on the shelves of electronics stores in the coming year.
So AI is hip. “Things went particularly fast after the arrival of ChatGPT,” says marketing specialist Richard Otto, who works on AI applications with his company XS2Content. Chatbot ChatGPT made artificial intelligence popular and accessible to a large audience. At the same time, forms of AI have long been found in our devices. Just look at the voice assistant in your phone or the personal recommendations from Netflix.
The term AI radiates innovation. “In the past, the word ‘smart’ was often used,” says Otto. “Before the millennium you saw many companies that had a brand name with 2000 in it. That sounded futuristic and new at the time.”
AI has now become the magic marketing word for everything new, says brand expert Paul Moers. “The term is used frequently. For consumers it means: this product is the latest. This is the most advanced there is. And that helps companies to market their products more expensively.”
This mirror from Baracoda shows the weather forecast, but can also cheer you up if you are not feeling well. Photo: Baracoda
Concern and admiration for AI
Placing the AI label on everything has a downside. Andrea Weihrauch, who conducts research into technology and marketing at the University of Amsterdam, sees that many people are reluctant to embrace artificial intelligence.
For example, not everyone understands the technology, which is why they stay away from it. There are also people who mainly see the possible disadvantages. For example, the technology does not yet work perfectly. AI can create incorrect information and potentially eliminate jobs.
“On the other hand, the arrival of ChatGPT has turned some fears into admiration,” says Weihrauch. Thanks to ChatGPT, people suddenly saw for themselves how powerful the technology is and what they can do with it. “As a result, companies now probably feel more room to advertise this. This does not mean that the concerns have completely disappeared. Legislators are certainly looking closely at the developments of AI.”
AI is a vague concept
The problem with AI as a marketing term may be that no one understands exactly what it means anymore. “It is used in such a broad sense that we have to be careful that it does not become an empty term,” says Moers.
Weihrauch thinks so too. “It is good that companies make it clear that a product contains AI, that is transparent. But there are still many misunderstandings about how the technology works and there are many variants of artificial intelligence. So let’s be careful with simply ‘AI’ to use as an umbrella term and inform people about what exactly the AI does.”
2024-01-13 18:01:37
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