“They used to be marketed as SMART devices, now, they’re called AI devices. But do they really have AI in them?”
Last month, I had a lively discussion about the AI landscape with the senior management team of Harvey Norman Singapore during their planning retreat.
I was sharing with them how many appliances and IT devices now come with the “AI” label, when they used to have the “SMART” label instead (eg. SMART microwave oven).
While some consumers may think this is gimmicky marketing, the truth is that these devices do have “machine learning AI” in their feature set.
For example, our smartphones have many machine learning algorithms that help us take better photos, do face recognition and do text prediction while we type. My LG washing machine detects the washing load and fabric type before applying the appropriate washing duration.
What’s confusing consumers now is the liberal use of the word “AI” by many manufacturers. Machine learning AI and Gen AI are two different types of AI.
Consumers need to learn that we won’t need Gen AI to brew coffee, but we can use Gen AI apps in laptops to help us craft better customer responses or marketing copy for each customer.
Your fridge may use machine learning AI today to keep the food fresh, and in the future, your fridge may use Gen AI to have a conversation with you about replenishing your veggies and butter.
At the retreat, we also discussed the impact of Generative AI on the workforce and how we can deploy it now to evolve the way we do sales and marketing in retail.
Thank you, Bernice Kwok, for the opportunity to speak to the visionary Harvey Norman leadership team!