The Subtle Rise of AI in Home Technology: Practical Applications and Consumer Reactions

TV brands are going all-in on AI for 2025 -- and I'm already over it

AI was inescapable at CES 2025. It seemed like every brand in attendance -- from crowd-funded start-ups to the biggest companies in the world - were desperate to demonstrate how AI-based features are on the verge of transforming how we use dishwashers, grills and litter boxes. Unsurprisingly, TVs were right in the mix. Samsung, LG and Hisense were just a handful of the TV brands I visited whose booths were decked out with AI-related demos. But as excited as everyone I talked to seemed to be about the advent of AI in TVs (including many of my colleagues), I remain unimpressed. In fact, having spent over a decade covering this beat, last week's AI blitz at CES left me feeling more exhausted and cynical about the TV business than I've been in a long while. I do believe it's possible for AI to make a TV better. Its successfulness is content-dependent and requires some restraint in its implementation, but the benefits are there. I've seen AI-driven processing do an impressive job upscaling 4K content to 8K, for instance. And, at CES this year, I watched Samsung demo a feature called AI Gamma on its S95F OLED, which automatically adjusts near-black shadow detail based on the lighting conditions of the room. In some circumstances, a feature like that can be valuable to some. Most importantly, it's up to the viewer whether they want AI Gamma enabled or not, so you're not automatically funneled into an unwanted viewing experience. And while improving upscaling and enhancing shadow detail both have to do with a TV's picture, there's room for AI to enhance other aspects of watching TV, too. Samsung is bringing the Galaxy S24's AI-based Live Translate feature over to select TVs in 2025, to name one example. It's the sort of AI functionality whose usefulness is easily understood: enable it and receive an on-screen, real-time language translation. Broadly speaking, I have plenty of hesitations about AI: the energy consumption at the heart of many of its software applications, the ethical questions surrounding Large Language Models (LLMs) and their potential sourcing of data from protected works, and the ghoulish, off-putting aesthetic of AI-generated "artwork," just to name a few. But if a TV brand can demonstrate that an AI-based feature can improve the viewing experience in a very real way, I'm more likely to be on board. The applications outlined above are perfect examples of this. I've been reviewing TVs for over a decade, and throughout that time, brands have always sought to improve upscaling (as we see with AI upscaling) and to make TVs more accessible (as we might see with Samsung's Live Translate feature). Unfortunately, most of the AI-driven features I just took in at CES leaned away from this dignified approach, favoring a strategy that feels instead like a series of solutions in search of problems. At a private showing at CES, LG walked me through many of the new AI features arriving on LG's 2025 TV lineup. The brand is referring to this suite of enhancements as Affectionate Intelligence, because it aims to "[redefine] the conventional, technical understanding of AI by focusing on its potential to revolutionize the customer experience paradigm." I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I can say that I was left feeling cold about what was ostensibly supposed to make me feel like a person worthy of affection. With the help of Microsoft Copilot, LG's AI Chatbot lets users ask questions about the problems they might be having with their TV. Or, as LG's press release puts it, AI Chatbot "identifies potential user challenges and offers timely, effective solutions." I can't report how effective it is until I have an opportunity to use it, but I can report that talking to customer service chatbots has never been high on my list of easy and convenient troubleshooting strategies. LG's AI personalization enhancements are said to learn from the viewing preferences of any given person, highlighting recommended content by way of the webOS home screen. This just sounds like more ads; visual clutter standing between me and whatever app or input I'm trying to access. Access to LG's Generative Image Gallery means that users can now create custom image backgrounds on webOS. Weird, AI-generated slop? That's not affectionate -- that's just something I don't want to look at. Samsung Food is heading to TVs, and according to Samsung, this integration "recognizes the food on your screen and provides recipes for bringing it to life." But what does that mean? Is the AI going to provide a list of its own recipes based on whatever dataset it's trained on? AI recipe development is not something I particularly trust, and part of the fun of referencing a recipe is walking someone else's path. It's a way I relate to those around me. It's real affection. Alternatively, if Samsung Food is simply identifying a lasagna on the screen and saying, essentially, "here are six lasagna recipes I found on the web," I'm not sure I need that. I suppose if I didn't know that I was looking at a traditional food dish called "lasagna" I might need some help figuring out what I was looking at, but let's be honest: How often has that ever happened to you? Is this solving a problem, or is it simply another AI-related item for the Samsung portfolio -- one that sounds just futuristic enough to grab your attention. I harp on this because, in spite of a flurry of questionable AI features at CES 2025, there were some exciting, down-to-earth developments in the TV space this year. At the same session in which I was introduced to the new iteration of AI Chatbot, LG quietly revealed that its flagship TV, the LG G5 OLED, is leveraging an all-new OLED panel that might be its brightest ever. At the same event where Samsung showcased its lasagna-identifying technology, I got to marvel at what might be its flagship model by this time next year: an 8K TV that makes use of new panel technology, (what Samsung is calling RGB Micro-LED). What started as a fuzzy marketing exercise (adding the term "AI" to previously established software enhancements) has now blossomed into a full-on frenzy. TV brands are telling you that your life at home either does revolve around your TV's smart platform, or that it ought to. Mine doesn't, nor should it. Perhaps you watch TV differently than I do. Maybe you want to see what your TV comes up with if you speak into your remote control and ask it to take a run at analyzing Frasier Crane's quiche. But I don't trust AI to tell me how to cook, and if I wanted a dependable quiche recipe, I know how to find one.

Best of CES 2025: All for One, And AI for All

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. When Microsoft announced the integration of the Windows key to the Natural Keyboard in 1994, it was more than just an accessibility feature -- it was an industry-wide declaration, that an operating ecosystem was here to stay. Fast forward to last year's Consumer Electronic's Show (or CES for short), and Microsoft dedicated key for its AI tool, Copilot+ on all Windows 11 laptops and PCs. Adding the Copilot+ key is single-handedly the biggest change to Windows keyboards in almost three decades, and serves as a physical entryway to AI functionality. At the touch of a button, it can answer questions you might've normally asked a search engine, recommend music, summarize documents. It put Microsoft's AI services in front of more than a billion Windows users, and, more importantly, it's impossible to ignore. But if 2024's CES gave us a knock-out, drag-out bid for machine learning dominance indicative of how the world's largest technology trade show became a glorified AI show-off, then 2025 was undeniably the calm after the storm. We've mostly assimilated into the metaphorical AI Borg at this point, and now resistance is futile. Vacuums have AI objection detection. Pillows have AI for snore detection and adjustment. Toothbrushes have AI coaches that give you advice on how to brush. Cars have AI-powered voice assistants, mirrors have AI biometric scanning, dog collars have AI, bird feeders have AI, and we haven't even touched on the barrage of AI-powered robots (from the cutsey, to the uncanny valley of Realbotix, who looks like a Disney Imagineer's version of a Swedish supermodel). Best of CES 2025: 35+ Best New Products, Tech and Gadgets This year, though, there was thankfully much less gimmicky bloatware, and more quality-of life upgrades and practical use cases for existing alongside artificial intelligence, perhaps to the point where it can become almost unnoticeable -- think taking crystal-clear calls over JBL's latest headphones thanks to their built-in AI algorithm, or kicking up your feet and binge-watching your favorite series with Hisene's brilliantly colorful new TVs, quietly optimizing for picture and sound quality in real time. During their press event, President of Hisense Americas David Gold even said, "when AI is done right, you don't notice it -- it just makes living better." The backlash is real though, so companies seem to be moving towards a vibe of "invisible AI" enhancements, a trend that touched every aspect of new tech presented this year at CES. While it can feel at times like it's foisted upon us (do I really need my fridge to connect to Wi-Fi?), the reality is that the AI hype isn't entirely manufactured. It took new-kid-on-the-streaming block Netflix three and a half years to reach one million users -- ChatGPT had an estimated 100 million users in three months after its release. Even still, research shows that only that found only around 25 percent of customers trust decisions made by AI over those made by people. While the train has already left the station, companies seem to be pumping the breaks a bit when it comes to their messaging touting the AI-ification of everything in response to public outcry (think of how often AI-generated spam images on Facebook are commonly referred to as "slop"). Hisense's Gold made it pointedly clear during their keynote that they didn't want AI to be "just a buzzword" and thrown in their TVs for the sake of nothing, and should really only help compliment the RGB backlighting tech that'll make that picture quality pop. I was particularly taken by LG's choice of phrasing for their booth this year, ditching the "Artificial" for "Affectionate AI" and thereby aiming to become more like an unobtrusive member of your family than any singular AI help device you'd buy into. It can theoretically do things like adjust the thermostat on the fly if it senses you shivering and automatically play music based on your detected mood (I've seen the DCOM Smart House and know how this ends, LG!). This year really highlighted under-the-hood AI advancements that didn't necessarily involve talking too a souped up Siri or using a robot as your personal assistant (and maybe kind of your pet, in the case of Samsung's Ballie). There were chip updates from Intel and AMD that brought faster and improved battery life, and both Samsung and LG partnered with Microsoft to bring seamless Copilot integration into your small screens (we're also inching ever-closer to a Chromebook-like price point with Asus' Zenbook A14, the lightest, sleekest Copilot+ PC we've ever seen at less than 2.2 pounds). Even the Halliday Smart Glasses sets the new standard for AI smart glasses that you'll genuinely want to wear (sporting a pint-sized display to project info on the lenses instead of waveguide tech), following the heels of Ray-Ban Meta's success by simply looking like traditional eyewear rather than bulky geek-wear. In the meantime, Nvidia became the darling of CES 2025 thanks to the announcement of their groundbreaking foundational model, Cosmos AI, which will help robots and autonomous vehicles learn more about the physical world. But there was much more buzz in our camp for their GeForce RTX 50 series. This new generation of GeForce GPUs (like the game-changing RTX 5090 GPU) have more powerful generative AI capabilities that are even better than what PC gamers have typically come to expect from these kinds of yearly upgrades, with the potential to double the frame rates of your favorite games like Cyberpunk 2077 compared to their predecessors. We may be a few years away from the Nvidia's dream of android assistants, but these are the kinds of improvements that make the biggest day-to-day computing difference, and we love to see it. Look, enormous TV announcements are nothing new at CES -- expecting any screen to get smaller at this point is like losing chess to a dog, for that matter. Case in point: Acer's Nitro Blaze 11, which is undeniably a powerhouse gaming handheld and worthy Steam Deck competitor, yet whose massive size makes its "portability" a bit of a stretch. But back on the TV front, this was the year where the big dogs like LG and TCL proved that 100-inch behemoths of the "small" screen are no longer merely conceptual or one-off technology showcases. Virtually every brand showed off a consumer-friendly 100-inch they planned to actually bring to market, from Samsung's impressive 115-inch version of its premium QN90F Neo QLED set, to Hisense's 116-inch MicroLED model which brings unparalleled brightness and color. This isn't coming out of nowhere -- we saw clear demand for 97-inch TVs at CES last year thanks to post-pandemic affordability of those models. That being said, most of the TVs displayed at the show will, obviously, be on the premium end (we're talking $10,000+), which is where the popularity of 4K and UST (ultra-short throw) projectors like the JMGO 02S Ultra will likely reign supreme for those who don't want to make that big of an investment. Billed by the company as the "world's smallest laser TV", it can beam a 100-inch image from a 5.75-inch distance, all at the size of a shoebox (and for a fraction of the cost of those massive TV models). We also saw laptops working smarter, not harder, to give you more screen estate in increasingly unique ways without resorting to 17-inch displays. Lenovo's new ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is the first of its kind, a stunning "rollable display" that feels like it should be conceptual, but we're so glad is real. The laptop miraculously extends a 14-inch landscape display to a 16.7-inch vertical one with just the press of a button, doubling your viewing potential. We were also blown away by the 2025 Asus Zenbook Duo, which has not one, but two brilliant 14-inch, 3K resolution OLED touchscreens that can be stacked in front of a keyboard, or used on their own. Sometimes, bigger really is better. Unfettered audio innovation wasn't the main focus of this year's CES, which took a backseat (as it usually does) to smart streaming solutions and AI-enhanced...well, everything. After the pandemic's burst of productivity-minded advancements in personal audio gear (i.e. work-from-home headsets galore), we suffered through a ho-hum few years of companies slowing their roll on new releases of everything from wireless cans to compact speakers. But things finally heat up again the hi-fi arena this year, and though you may not have heard about them over the buzz of robots, and laptops, and TVs (oh my!), audio offerings were better than ever. Mainly specialty sound getting more equitable and accessible, first with Dolby Atmos facing some serious competition in Samsung and Google's Eclipsa Audio. As an open source alternative to Dolby Atmos and DTS:X that brands like LG are getting in on, it has the potential to change the game for bringing immersive surround into your home. While we're still light on the details of exactly how it works, the fact that TVs and soundbars will be able to decode this new sound format with just a software update to the source device is an exciting prospect. Leson, a spin-off of Montreal-based music and sound creation studio Music Unit, also debuted a new technology that can turn any mono or stereo audio output into spatial audio. Could this signal the end of remaster re-releases for good? Only time will tell (most definitely no, but the tech is still pretty sick). Personalization is also having a big moment for new wireless earbuds -- on the luxe end, we have Dutch singer Xander de Buisonjé's company, which is offering the $2,200 Breggz Zohn-1 Bluetooth buds that you won't be able to find in any stores. No, you'll have to have your ears scanned through the Breggz mobile app so the buds can be a perfectly-tailor fit and adapt to your hearing profile for killer sound before they even arrive at your doorstep. On the more wallet-friendly side, Creative's Aurvana Ace Mimi earbuds can adjust the sound to match your personalized hearing profile based on a quick hearing test. But unlike other buds with similar programs, Aurvana Ace Mimi accounts for frequency differences between your right and left ears. And at the same price as entry-level AirPods, I'm glad we're seeing that bigger audio advancements are shrinking, both in size and price point. It's a CES miracle -- gadgets are finally leaving the concept and prototype phases. This year, it seemed like the ghosts of CES past were back with concrete plans, firm price points, and yes, actual release dates. While there will always be buzzy releases that evaporate into the vaporware ether due to lack of funding (or general engineering failures), I was shocked by how many products I saw on the show floor that were actually available to purchase right now. Even if we couldn't add them to cart immediately, a number of high-profile announcements were resurrected out of development purgatory and into consumer-ready status -- Sony Honda Mobility's Afeela 1? Samsung's rolling robot Ballie from 2020? LG's transparent OLED TV? Aw, hey, we thought you guys were dead! Concepts that normally feel like they would take years to comes out, like Roborock's handy-dandy, mechanical-armed Saros Z70 robot vacuum, are hitting shelves some time this year. Can I say though, we're most excited for Displace's truly wireless 4K OLED that you can hang anywhere you want, thanks to -- and we're not kidding -- huge suction cups on the back of the TV. Wild that this exists, that it legitimately looks good, and that it's finally available for pre-order and expected to ship in March. Bringing it back to Lenovo's rollable laptop, that's another idea we never thought would see the light of day. Laptops, for the most part, have looked exactly the same for the past few decades for a reason -- it's hard to improve upon a classic (that old clamshell design is just so solid), but we've been seeing concepts and prototypes for rollable screens at CES since 2019. But the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable beat them all thanks to versatility, elegance, and most importantly, being on sale starting this Spring. In truth, we got the usual flurry of standard CES innovative fare this year, AI-infused and otherwise: bigger, brighter TVs, robots galore, and expandable laptops that extend your screen three ways from Sunday. And it can be hard to tell at times what's just a "how do you do, fellow shareholders?" hot-button marketing play, and what is legitimately going to elevate a particular technology. But a lot changes in a year, including the public's appetite for the new flavor of the "next big thing" -- and with AI, brands are starting to take note. The fact that the darling of CES 2024, AI phone assistant Rabbit R1 (who, mind you, sold out their first batch of 10,000 units in a single day) flopped so incredibly hard, certainly makes it real how many of us want to participate in the AI transformation, but only so long as it actually feels good to use. This year, CES proved that companies are realizing solid hardware that's available now instead of in some nebulous future and meaningful software updates (yes, with AI) that enhance our everyday lives instead of feeling like a glorified pop-up can be better than any concept announcement. What a concept.

All the Best Smart Home Tech You Can Expect in 2025 (and Beyond)

Expertise Kitchen tools | Appliances | Food science | Subscriptions | Meal kits If smart home AI existed when I was growing up, one particularly trying winter wouldn't have been the disaster it was. Walking down the subterranean steps of my childhood home in New England, there is evidence of damage from a now decades-old basement flood. I can remember the agony in my dad's voice as he explained how a radiator malfunction caused the pipes to freeze and burst, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and sentimental property loss that couldn't be as accurately calculated. It's not easy to pinpoint what, if anything, my dad could have done to prevent it at the time. But times are changing -- and with the help of AI -- maybe even for the better. I've been a smart home tech reporter for a decade, and there is AI-powered machinery throughout my 1,100-square-foot cottage in New York's Hudson Valley. While my home doesn't look or feel particularly futuristic, it's the AI you don't see, hear or interact with much that I've come to appreciate. That artificial intelligence is playing a bigger role in our lives via chatbots and generative content-creation tools is no secret. What may come as a surprise, is how AI can improve our everyday lives through seemingly small updates to the most common tools and appliances. What I expect to see more of in the year ahead is not the futuristic fantasy tech we see in science fiction with home robots to prepare meals, fold fitted sheets and entertain the dog (sorry, Amazon Astro, wherever you are). The next big thing in our homes is far less bold but equally -- if not more -- impactful than robot nannies, maids and chefs. It's a slow and steady improvement in your appliances and smart home tech coupled with preventive AI to diagnose problems in associated expensive appliances before they become full-on disasters. Smart water sensors now work 24/7 to detect leaks and frozen pipes and trigger a purge preventing costly flood damage and plumbing repairs. If my parents had today's smart home tech, they would have likely saved a lot of money, time and heartache. Likewise, large appliances with intelligent features can lower your winter energy bill or reduce the risk of a kitchen fire. Home security devices can even recognize deviant behavior from unidentified actors and clue you in. These are just a few ways AI in the home has the potential to prevent catastrophe and improve . I expect -- and welcome -- more of this subtle AI in the home. It's already happening, but 2025 will be a year we see home tech AI become commonplace. The washing machine and dryer are two places where AI has been integrated and made an immediate impact. The AI modality isn't flashy -- I sadly still fold the clothes -- but with intelligent sensors, you can expect a smaller energy bill and your favorite T-shirts to last longer. LG's latest washing machines cost about $1,000 but use sensors to detect the types of fabric you've lobbed inside as well as the size of the load. Using over 20,000 points of data, it picks an optimal cycle and uses water use accordingly, saving you from using more costly hot water than you need. AI-powered machine learning helps it to get better over time, not worse like washing machines of the past. Read more: Lower Your Energy Bill by Cleaning Your Dryer Vent With These 5 Simple Steps The dryer is able to make similar adjustments when it kicks off a cycle. LG's core tech AI kicks in to detect the weight and moisture level of the clothes inside so it can dry for the appropriate amount of time, saving you precious energy or use a gentler heat that is less likely to damage delicate fabrics. A representative from LG told me that the AI in its washer and dryer, while subtle, has been received well by consumers, including me. The brand expects that inevitably all of its laundry machines will have some form of this AI-powered calibration for better washing and drying results and clothes that last longer. A piece of smart home tech that my dad (and his insurance company) certainly wish had been around is Moen's Flo. The $550 Flo attaches easily to a home's water main, learns your home's unique water flow patterns and monitors for anything unusual, in which case it automatically alerts you and shuts the main water supply to prevent damage. Unusual flow often means a leak, even the smallest of which can cause major damage to your home over time. When paired with one of Moen's smart faucets, the system can purge the water pipes in your home to relieve the pressure or prevent them from freezing. Water damage accounts for roughly a quarter of all homeowners insurance claims, and the emotional toll and loss of personal belongings only make this type of property damage more difficult to grapple with. It's an unassuming device with the potential to save billions in damage and loads more in personal property loss. I spoke with one of Moen's senior product managers, Suzy Kummer, who stressed how much the average person underestimates the likelihood of household leaks and the damage they can do. "It's the number one claim for homeowners and is often emotionally devastating on top of causing higher insurance premiums." According to Moen, 60% of Flo users have already discovered a leak thanks to the detection system. Look for more diagnostic and preventive AI to become the norm in home heating, plumbing and electrical systems. In the kitchen, where I do most of my technology testing, it is again less conspicuous AI technology that resonates most. Super smart (and super expensive) AI-powered countertop ovens including the June (now defunct) and Brava -- which try to optimize cooking by employing multiple cooking methods and precise cooking programs to roast strips of bacon or large cuts of meat -- haven't exactly caught fire with consumers. My hot take is that people enjoy cooking, so robot chefs may not be the clearest path to a smarter kitchen, but AI smarts are improving the kitchen in subtler ways. Brands including LG and Samsung have taken big swings with smart large appliances. Samsung's induction and electric ranges -- I have one -- communicate important information like whether or not a skillet you set down on its burner is compatible and politely ping your phone when the oven is preheated. There's also an in-oven camera that allows you to keep an eye on a tray of cookies to avoid a burned batch. Read more: The Best Smart Kitchen Tools Do a Few Things Well, Not Everything All at Once Samsung refrigerators which start at around $2,500, also use AI smarts to increase the shelf life of the food inside. Jeongseung Moon, Samsung's head of R&D shared how its groundbreaking AI hybrid cooling technology "incorporates a Peltier module to enhance auxiliary mechanical power." The AI algorithm assesses conditions and activates the Peltier module as needed to actively cool the fridge when it detects a temperature change and prevent food inside from spoiling as fast. Smaller kitchen appliances have also been improved by intelligence while not being completely overhauled or fixed with robot arms. Blenders including Breville's $500 Super Q (the best blender to buy if you're going to splurge) are now outfitted with sensors that detect when dense, frozen food is causing blades to stick and alter speed and mode to get things moving again. None of these advances feel as though they've been plucked from science fiction, but the incremental smarts add up to a feeling that everything is running a bit better with fewer headaches and less waste. In the year ahead, I expect to hear less from top kitchen manufacturers about how their latest tool or appliance can do it for you, and more about how it can help you do it faster, safer and more efficiently. Home security has gotten its own injection from AI mostly in the form of precise object recognition. CNET's home security reporter Tyler Lacoma wrote earlier this year that he expected to hate AI and home security mixed together but ended up loving how AI enhanced the technology. "Now you can find object detection and recognition on nearly every smart home cam," Lacoma writes. "We've opened our doors to a quiet AI revolution where people, amazingly, have few complaints." While an Orwellian nanny state run amok isn't inconceivable, for now, AI in home security has been used deftly to help homeowners keep tabs on packages left at the front door and be alerted to the goings-on in and around the home only when potential trouble is afoot, not every time a family member or squirrel passes by a camera. While facial recognition technology is the new, somewhat controversial feature home security companies are pushing this year, we also saw another rising security trend at CES 2025 -- more screens on important pieces of home tech. Smart locks are developing better tracking technologies and showing up with built-in screens that act like a high-quality peephole with video doorbell features. And speaking of video doorbells, we're also starting to see them ship with dedicated displays for a quick view wherever you are. Vacuums, mops and lawnmowers are clear examples of practical home robots. Thanks to continued advances in AI-powered object recognition, these home helpers no longer roam blindly looking for dirt and debris. While not a new smart home category, advanced object recognition and machine learning have made robot vacs a poster child for AI in the home since the best of them come closest to eliminating a common household task that would otherwise be done by us. And they're getting better... Just this past month at CES, the largest tech showcase on Earth, we fell for a robot vacuum that picks up socks around the house in addition to mop and vacuum. An equally impressive AI-powered lawn mower with track tread wheels and mulching blades, also unveiled at CES, hopes to make raking a chore of the past. Other robot mowers have enjoyed a boost from AI and more sound technology. All the top models now rely on GPS to more accurately and efficiently trim the tall fescue or Kentucky bluegrass in your yard. I expect both mowers and vacuums to become better decision-makers in the years ahead with more precise functionality that helps these expensive home helpers prove their worth. It's called a smart thermostat for a reason. Today's smart thermostats aren't just programmable but can learn your daily habits and adjust your home's temperature accordingly. If you tend to like it colder at night while you sleep and warmer during the day because you work from home, for example, devices like the Google Nest Learning Thermostat can adjust your home temperature based on your pattern. Using technology called geofencing, thermostats can use your phone's location (or in-room motion sensors) to tell when you're away from home and set the temperature accordingly. Beyond just controlling your home's temperature, the thermostat of tomorrow (and many thermostats of today) can connect to multiple smart devices such as heat pumps, HVACs, smart fans, air purifiers and solar panels and can connect to your utility's virtual power plant program. Smart thermostat intelligence may not be the flashiest tech gadget in your home, but it can be one of the most impactful since it can help reduce your home's energy use and therefore, your energy bill and your carbon footprint. The AI you're least likely to notice is the technology that prevents bad things from happening. This comes by way of customer service or technology jumping in before a problem with your fridge, stove, dishwasher, washing machine -- or as in my case, plumbing -- becomes a serious one. LG's proactive customer service program helps solve problems with large appliances as soon as they begin to take shape. A connected fridge, for instance, will trigger an alert to LG's service team if it notices a change in cooling ability -- something you may not notice on your own but could be a sign of a larger looming issue. With revolutionary technology like AI comes a flurry of creative attempts to incorporate robotics, machine learning and generative intelligence into our lives. Some have already come and gone without changing the status quo much. Others continue to arrive quietly but have the potential to make a massive impact on our daily lives and homes. Those that guard against human or mechanical error and sand down the edges of an otherwise rough user experience. I've gifted a few smart home devices to Dad over the years, some more exciting than others. While it's not altogether flashy, if you ask Dad which piece of smart home tech he wished he'd had when a radiator malfunctioned and cold snap all but leveled the house and took with it family keepsakes and photo albums, it won't take him long to answer.