\n<\/p>\n
The New Year\u2019s<\/span> Eve champagne isn\u2019t even warm yet, and CES<\/a> week is already upon us.<\/p>\n The giant annual celebration of consumer tech kicks off the first full week of January as companies across the world convene in Las Vegas to hawk their latest innovations.<\/p>\n As always, WIRED will be keeping track of the deluge of tech announcements. Our intrepid team will be in Las Vegas, bounding around event spaces, trying on headsets and petting possibly several robot dogs, while sharing videos of the most important\u2014and most bizarre\u2014stuff we find. Follow along on our CES live blog<\/a> or dive into all our event coverage<\/a>.<\/p>\n We are of course expecting artificial intelligence<\/a> to feature prominently at CES for the third year<\/a> in a row<\/a>. Whether the AI race is an actual boom or just a bubble<\/a>, the entire Earth<\/a> is seemingly caught up in the trend of packing AI features into every new device.<\/p>\n The rush of companies stuffing chatbots, computer vision, and intelligent sensors into their products has led to a sort of evening out\u2014when products all offer similar features and use cases, they become harder to differentiate.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything is AI now, so nothing is AI,\u201d says Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, who has said this kind of thing<\/a> for a while now. \u201cIt has reached such a point of saturation that simply stating \u2018AI\u2019 doesn’t really do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Competing products may use AI capabilities to do all the same things, but the differences that make one win out over the other may come down to which one can figure out how to best deploy the software.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s really a software maturity story,\u201d Sag says. \u201cBut that’s not very sexy.\u201d<\/p>\n Take smart glasses as an example. A heap of smart glasses will be announced at CES this year. Based on the emails already flowing into my inbox, these glasses will have just about anything you\u2019d want\u2014voice-activated chatbot search, sharp displays, instant language translation. But any new specs will have to compete with Meta, which has carved out quite a lead<\/a> with its best-selling smart glasses. Meta has been able to refine its user experience and design for years now and, so far, its execution is unmatched.<\/p>\n Extend this out to just about any product category and you\u2019ll see the same thing.<\/p>\n \u201cHow useful is it actually, but also how good is the software?\u201d Sag says. \u201cEverybody’s going to have some kind of AI\u2014AI earbuds, AI glasses. But if the software sucks, they’re going to be useless.\u201d<\/p>\n Right now, AI is on your face and arms\u2014smart glasses and smart watches\u2014but this year will see it proliferate further into products like earbuds, headphones, and smart clothing.<\/p>\n Health tech will see an influx of AI features too, as companies aim to use AI to monitor biometric data from wearables like rings and wristbands. Heath sensors will also continue to show up in newer places like toilets, bath mats, and brassieres.<\/p>\n The smart home will continue to be bolstered by machine intelligence, with more products that can listen, see, and understand what\u2019s happening in your living space. Familiar candidates for AI-powered upgrades like smart vacuums and security cameras will be joined by surprising AI bedfellows like refrigerators and garage door openers.<\/p>\n Many in the AI gadget business may decide to hold their breath to see what OpenAI\u2019s new gadget strategy<\/a> looks like. The company has revealed that its first consumer tech products will be personal devices\u2014a home audio player and a note-taking pen, reportedly\u2014though those aren\u2019t expected to arrive for at least another year, and there could be more in store.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nEverything Is AI; Nothing Is AI<\/h2>\n
Beyond Wearables<\/h2>\n