{"id":397033,"date":"2026-01-08T22:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T22:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/397033\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T22:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T22:33:11","slug":"most-dubious-uses-of-ai-at-ces-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/397033\/","title":{"rendered":"Most dubious uses of AI at CES 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

You can\u2019t shake a stick without hitting an AI gadget at CES this year, with artificial smarts now embedded in just about every wearable, screen, and appliance across the show floor, not to mention the armies of AI companions, toys, and robots<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But those are just the beginning. We\u2019ve seen AI pop up in much stranger places too, from hair clippers to stick vacs, and at least one case where even the manufacturer itself seemed unsure what made its products \u201cAI.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are the gadgets we\u2019ve seen at CES 2026 so far that really take the \u201cintelligence\u201d out of \u201cartificial intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glyde smart hair clippers<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

An extremely normal hair-cutting experience. Photo: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

This is a product that would be silly enough without the AI add-on. These smart hair clippers<\/a> help amateur hairdressers deliver the perfect fade by dynamically altering the closeness of the cut, helped along by an ominous face mask that looks like it belongs in an optician\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s taken to the next level by the real-time AI coach, which gives you feedback as you cut. Glyde told me it\u2019s working on voice controls for the AI too, and that eventually it will be able to recommend specific hairstyles, so long as you\u2019re willing to trust its style advice. Are you?<\/p>\n

\"Gotta<\/a><\/p>\n

Gotta love a CES booth that hands out mystery pills like they\u2019re candy. Photo: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere Pills meet AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was the message emblazoned across the SleepQ booth, where company reps were handing out boxes of pills<\/a> \u2014 a multivitamin with ashwagandha extract according to the box, supposedly good for sleep, though I wasn\u2019t brave enough to test that claim on my jetlag.<\/p>\n

Manufacturer Welt, originally spun out of a Samsung incubator, calls its product \u201cAI-upgraded pharmacotherapy.\u201d It\u2019s really just using biometric data from your smartwatch or sleep tracker to tell you the optimal time to take a sleeping pill each day, with plans to eventually cover anxiety meds, weight-management drugs, pain relief, and more.<\/p>\n

There may well be an argument that fine-tuning the time people pop their pills could make them more effective, but I feel safe in saying we don\u2019t need to start throwing around the term \u201cAI-enhanced drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a><\/p>\n

I always wished my vacuum was more intelligent. Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

Startup Deglace claims that its almost unnecessarily sleek-looking Fraction vacuum cleaner<\/a> uses AI in two different ways: first to \u201coptimize suction,\u201d and then to manage repairs and replacements for the modular design.<\/p>\n

It says its Neural Predictive AI monitors vacuum performance \u201cto detect issues before they happen,\u201d giving you health scores for each of the vacuum\u2019s components, which can be conveniently replaced with a quick parts order from within the accompanying app. A cynic might worry this is all in the name of selling users expensive and proprietary replacement parts, but I can at least get behind the promise of modular upgrades \u2014 assuming Deglace is able to deliver on that promise.<\/p>\n

\"AI-generated<\/a><\/p>\n

You too can hang beautiful art like this in your home. Photo: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

Most digital picture frames let you display photos of loved ones, old holiday snaps, or your favorite pieces of art. Fraimic<\/a> lets you display AI slop.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an E Ink picture frame with a microphone and voice controls, so you can describe whatever picture you\u2019d like, which the frame will then generate using OpenAI\u2019s GPT Image 1.5 model. The frame itself starts at $399, which gets you 100 image generations each year, with the option to buy more if you run out.<\/p>\n

What makes the AI in Fraimic so dubious is that it might be a pretty great product without it. The E Ink panel looks great, you can use it to show off your own pictures and photos too, and it uses so little power that it can run for years without being plugged in. We\u2019d just love it a lot more without the added slop.<\/p>\n

\"Into<\/a><\/p>\n

Into the ModuVerse. Photo: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

Infinix, a smaller phone manufacturer that\u2019s had success across Asia for its affordable phones, didn\u2019t launch any actual new products at CES this year, but it did bring five concepts that could fit into future phones. Some are clever, like various color-changing rear finishes and a couple of liquid-cooling designs. And then there\u2019s the AI ModuVerse.<\/p>\n

Modular phone concepts are nothing new, so the AI hook is what makes ModuVerse unique \u2014 in theory. One of the \u201cModus\u201d makes sense: a meeting attachment that connects magnetically, generating AI transcripts and live translation onto a mini display on the back.<\/p>\n

But when I asked what made everything else AI, Infinix didn\u2019t really have any good answers. The gimbal camera has AI stabilization, the vlogging lens uses AI to detect faces, and the microphone has AI voice isolation \u2014 all technically AI-based, but not in any way that\u2019s interesting. As for the magnetic, stackable power banks, Infinix\u2019s reps eventually admitted they don\u2019t really have any AI at all. Color me shocked.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a><\/p>\n

This looks pretty smart, but it really is just a microwave. Photo: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a growing trend for AI and robotic cooking hardware \u2014 The Verge\u2019s Jen Tuohy reviewed a $1,500 robot chef<\/a> just last month \u2014 but Wan AIChef is something altogether less impressive: an AI-enabled microwave.<\/p>\n

It runs on what looks suspiciously like Android, with recipe suggestions, cooking instructions, and a camera inside so you can see the progress of what you\u2019re making. But\u2026 it\u2019s just a microwave. So it can\u2019t actually do any cooking for you, other than warm up your food to just the right temperature (well, just right plus or minus 3 degrees Celsius, to be accurate).<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll do meal plans and food tracking and calorie counting too, which all sounds great so long as you\u2019re willing to commit to eating all of your meals out of the AI microwave. Please, I beg you, do not eat all of your meals out of the AI microwave.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Yes, that is just a Dell monitor with a Logitech webcam stuck on top. Photo: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

The tech industry absolutely loves reinventing the vending machine and branding it either robotics or AI, and AI Barmen is no different.<\/p>\n

This setup \u2014 apparently already in use for private parties and corporate events \u2014 is really just an automatic cocktail machine with a few AI smarts slapped on top.<\/p>\n

The AI uses the connected webcam to estimate your age \u2014 it was off by eight years in my case \u2014 and confirm you\u2019re sober enough to get another drink. It can also create custom drinks, with mixed success: When asked for something to \u201cfuck me up,\u201d it came up with the Funky Tequila Fizz, aka tequila, triple sec, and soda. What, no absinthe?<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

Should you buy your kid an AI toy that gives it a complete LLM-powered chatbot to speak to? Probably not. But what if that AI chatbot looked like chibi Elon Musk?<\/p>\n

He\u2019s just one of the many avatars offered by the Luka AI Cube, including Hayao Miyazaki, Steve from Minecraft, and Harry Potter. Kids can chat to them about their day, ask for advice, or even share the AI Cube\u2019s camera feed to show the AI avatars where they are and what they\u2019re up to. Luka says it\u2019s a tool for fun, but also learning, with various educational activities and language options.<\/p>\n

The elephant in the room is whether you should trust any company\u2019s guardrails enough to give a young kid access to an LLM. Leading with an AI take on Elon Musk \u2014 whose own AI, Grok, is busy undressing children as we speak<\/a> \u2014 doesn\u2019t exactly inspire confidence.<\/p>\n

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