Comment E&W 11/2024
In the household appliances section of E&W 11 we report, among other things, on the EFHT appearances of household appliance manufacturers. What struck me was that AI had been talked about for a long time, but so far the technology has hardly been implemented or used in our industry. That is currently changing.
AI everywhere you look – whether ChatGPT, Gemini or the refrigerator at home. However, the spread of this technology is increasing Uncertainty and reservations in the population, at least every second Austrian thinks critically about it. There are fears that AI represents a threat and additional effort, that jobs and therefore livelihoods will be lost. However, proponents of the technology believe that AI does not pose a threat, but rather provides more freedom; that AI should not be seen as a replacement, but as a complementary tool.
The science fiction genre thrives on the idea that intelligent machines could one day achieve world domination. But there is no reason for gloomy visions of the future. Because even if they are called that: AI systems are not intelligent in the human sense. They solve certain tasks independently and this seems like real thinking, but is basically only based on data and trained knowledge that people instill in the AI systems. The more data the AI gets, the “smarter” it is. She learns to identify differences and connections, and she optimizes herself.
Also more and more household appliances are equipped with AI, e.g. Washing machines, refrigerators or ovens. Some device categories, such as. Household robots would hardly be conceivable without machine learning. AI functions in washing machines use sensors to determine the weight of the laundry and the amount of water. They check how cloudy the lye is and automatically dose the detergent. They monitor ongoing operations, can identify errors and suggest tips for fixing them. Washing programs no longer have to be set manually. All you have to do is take a photo of the textiles with your smartphone and thanks to well-trained image recognition in the washing machine app, the device then knows what to do. The refrigerator with integrated voice control recognizes family members by voice and suggests recipes tailored to personal taste. AI also analyzes online recipes and sends the optimal settings to the oven at home. Thanks to AI, ovens now recognize which dish is being prepared in them and provide ongoing information about the cooking progress. And you even benefit from AI when brushing your teeth. The manufacturers let thousands of test subjects brush for a test, develop an algorithm from the sensor data from all brushes, and based on this, the toothbrush later analyzes the user’s brushing behavior at home and gives tips for optimization.
AI also supports retail. Whether automatic item recognition, dynamic price optimization, inventory and energy management, personnel planning, customer data analysis or the delivery of goods. Whether it’s relieving the burden of routine and control tasks, supporting decisions or creating innovative business models and thus new market opportunities. For customers in the future, this will mean, among other things, a personalized and ultra-flexible shopping experience. Basically it sounds positive. However, various uncertainties and worries should not be ignored. It would be important that all activities related to AI are designed and communicated transparently. The challenge is to develop a productive symbiosis between the capabilities of AI and the skills of humans – whereby humans must ALWAYS remain in control.
