LAS VEGAS — Welcome to CES 2024. This multi-day trade event put on by the Consumer Technology Association is expected to bring some 130,000 attendees and more than 4,000 exhibitors to Las Vegas. The latest advances and gadgets across personal tech, transportation, health care, sustainability and more will be on display, with burgeoning uses of artificial intelligence almost everywhere you look.
Chef-like robots, AI-powered appliances and other high-tech kitchen gadgets are holding out the promise that humans don’t need to cook — or mix drinks — for themselves anymore.
Displays included a cocktail-mixing machine akin to a Keurig, and a robot barista whose movements are meant to mimic a human making a vanilla latte.
Tech startup Chef AI is unveiling what it calls a “real one-touch” air fryer.
Unlike the air fryer you might have on your kitchen counter right now, Chef AI’s iteration of the popular appliance doesn’t require any tinkering with settings. Just place the food in the air fryer, press Start, and it uses artificial intelligence to detect what type of food it is cooking, says the company’s CEO, Dean Khormaei.
He said the air fryer would turn even the worst cooks into chefs.
Chef AI will be available in the U.S. in September for $250.
What’s the secret to a perfect dirty martini? Don’t worry about it — Bartesian’s cocktail-mixing appliance takes the guesswork out of bartending.
Bartesian’s latest iteration, the Premier, can hold up to four different types of spirits. It retails for $369 and will be available later this year.
Use a small touch screen on the appliance to pick from 60 recipes, drop a cocktail capsule into the machine, and in seconds you have a premium cocktail over ice.
If you fancy a homemade beer instead, iGulu’s new automated brewing machine lets you make your own beer — a pale ale, an amber lager or a wheat beer. Just pour a pre-mixed recipe into the machine’s keg, add water and scan the sticker that comes with the beer mix. In nine to 13 days, you’ll have a gallon of DIY beer.
Artly Coffee’s barista bot mimics the way a human behind the counter of your favorite coffee shop might prepare your usual order.
“What we’re really trying to do is preserve the craft of fine coffee,” said Alec Roig, a hardware developer for the Seattle-based tech startup that now is operating at 10 locations across the Pacific Northwest and in New York City.
Roig said the company’s resident barista, who is behind all of Artly’s coffee recipes, was hooked up with motion sensors that recorded his movements as he prepared each recipe, from packing the coffee grounds into the filter to frothing the milk and pouring latte art.
AI for preventing identity theft
Robert Downey Jr. fought off villains as “Iron Man” on the big screen for more than a decade. Now, in his latest off-screen role as a board member and strategist at AI security startup Aura, Downey wants to fight off digital scammers, he said at CES 2024.
Aura is an online app that uses artificial intelligence to monitor and track accounts and help prevent digital crimes, like scams, hacks and identity theft. The company revealed Tuesday at a panel that it will launch a new AI feature this year that it says will help parents identify depression, anxiety and other issues in their children’s lives by tracking their cellphone usage habits.
Downey said he was drawn to the company’s mission statement after his Instagram account was hacked in 2019.
“We’re all so busy in this information age,” he said, while emphasizing that he thought he had been proactive about protecting his accounts and information before he was hacked. “But it’s nowhere near enough.”
Google on Tuesday showcased various ways the tech giant is integrating generative AI features into Android devices — including previously-announced customizable, AI-generated wallpapers and suggested text messages responses, written in styles ranging from casual to “Shakespearean.”
The California-based company also took the opportunity to unveil some new features.
Chromecast is being expanded to more apps and devices, with TikTok content now able to be cast directly to TVs.
More automakers are also partnering with Google to offer vehicles with pre-install apps such as Google Maps and Assistant. The apps will come to select models from Ford, Nissan and Lincoln this year, with Porsche following suit in 2025.
Intel may be leaning into supporting AI with its Core Ultra chips, but the company decided to announce an expansion of its 14th Gen processor family for gamers and media creators who need raw power and performance from their PCs.
Agree
Cool advancements #uncaring
Love seeing how technology continues to revolutionize our daily lives #excited