Techs AI Obsession Is Making The Term Meaningless

If there's one key takeaway from Berlin's 2025 IFA consumer tech show, it's that AI has completely taken over marketing. Focusing on the smart home, it was nearly impossible to find a new product announcement that didn't feature "AI" in its promotion. This poses a problem for the average tech buyer, as it's no longer clear what AI really means, whether a product uses modern AI, or if the feature adds any real value.

What Does AI Even Mean Anymore?

Artificial intelligence was truly everywhere at IFA. The buzzword appeared in everything from SwitchBot's fuzzy bear robots and prompt-based wall art to Roborock's smart mapping lawn mowers and Hisense's refrigerator recipe guides. Samsung showcased all three of its AI brands: Bespoke AI for appliances, Vision AI for home entertainment, and Galaxy AI for its phones. And naturally, voice assistants are now frequently rebranded as "AI voice assistants."

AI like Samsung's Bespoke sounds fancy, but sometimes it's just basic algorithms underneath. - Ajay Kumar/CNET

When so many companies apply the AI label so liberally, it begins to lose all meaning. How many of these new devices actually incorporate the modern definition of AI—the generative AIs powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) that we see in chatbots like Google Gemini and ChatGPT? While some have generative capabilities, calling them AI in the same breath as fully-developed chatbots is often a stretch.

In many cases, "AI" is clearly just a branding term that marketing departments feel is essential today. It's confusing and disappointing when an AI-branded product lacks any standard AI features. For example, when Samsung claims its Bespoke AI saves energy in its washing machines, it seems to be referring to simple algorithms and sensors—technology that would never have been called "AI" just a few years ago.

This trend can cheapen the term and distract from products with genuine, built-in artificial intelligence. When everything is AI, nothing is. This is a marketing challenge that companies are only just beginning to face.

On a positive note, credit goes to the lighting company Lepro, which clearly explained at IFA that its voice assistant was built using an LLM trained on design concepts to help users choose colors for various activities. Details like these make it easier to understand if AI is truly present and what it actually does.

Is All This AI Actually Worth It?

The surge in AI branding creates another dilemma for consumers: Are these AI-labeled features worth their often-higher prices in the smart home? The answer is complicated. In some instances, absolutely. AIs trained for facial recognition in security cameras or to scan your video clips can be incredibly useful.

How do you know which AI features are worth it in the home? You let us test them. - Amazon

In other scenarios, AI adds very little. Hisense made a concerted effort to integrate AI into all its IFA announcements, but some examples fell flat. The AI voice assistant in its U8 S Pro Air Conditioner, limited to only 18 voice commands, seems like a basic voice assistant at best. The advertised AI Cooking Agent and AI Laundry Agent in its kitchen tech appear unnecessary, interfering with daily tasks we already know how to do or can easily learn with a quick search.

SwitchBot's generative AI art frame looks fun and innovative, but it's not going to make your life any easier. - SwitchBot

Even an innovative product like SwitchBot's E Ink picture frame, which uses AI prompts to create art, has a certain "Why do I need this?" quality. Many of the latest AI features suffer from this problem. We have limited space in our homes and lives for new smart tech. AI is at its best when it saves us time and eliminates headaches, not when it creates more things for us to manage.

Navigating the Hype: The Role of Expert Reviews

This is where expert testers and reviewers come in. It's unrealistic to expect the average tech buyer to have the time or energy to investigate the details behind every product's claims. That's why we review devices, phones, apps, and chatbots—to determine which are worth it, which make life better, which have privacy issues, and which are unreliable.

When countless products are labeled "AI this" and "AI that," you need experts to pan for the gold. IFA 2025 has provided a whole new list of tech to sift through. If you are interested in this topic, you can also check out this article on what I like about home security AI.

Don't miss any of CNET's unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add us as a preferred Google source on Chrome.