CES 2024: LG’s New Smart Home Hub Is a Cute Little Robot
I already have a dog, but I want to patrol the area instead—that’s LG’s new smart home AI agent that was just announced at CES. (No offense, puppy.) This two-wheeled bot, damn close to the physical embodiment of any cartoon robot, is designed to have complex conversations with you and run your home. Whenever it eventually hits the market, of course.
A robot that studies its environment
LG says the bot, which the company calls an “artificial intelligence agent,” can navigate around the house on its own. If true, this would be a welcome development, given the legendary story of robot vacuum cleaners failing to get through thresholds or carpets. It will also monitor your pets and let you know if there are problems in the house, such as lights left on, a window left open, or any unexpected noise or movement.
In fact, the bot shares many core features with existing smart home hubs, including integration to control other smart home devices. In addition, the robot uses facial and user recognition layered on top of all sorts of sensors that constantly read temperature, air quality and humidity. The idea is that it could monitor your home, save energy by keeping track of what’s being used, greet you when you get home, and play music that could match your mood as it analyzes your voice and facial expressions – although the jury is still out how well this might work in practice.
If I sound skeptical, let me be clear: I want a robot. I suspect that, like most early iterations, this one will have to iron out a few rough edges, but for now we’re clearly far, far away from robot dogs doing backflips in shopping malls. (Of course, by the time it hits the market, it will have a cuter name, because “AI Agent” does exude some of the wily robot overlord energy.)
Turning the hub into a physical presence at home
The robot is the latest manifestation of LG’s smart home, a concept called the “Zero Labor Home” in which much of the day-to-day work and overhead of running a home is outsourced to artificial intelligence and technology. While other brands like Google and Apple rely on voice assistant hubs, LG’s insistence on the robot’s physical presence could be a game-changer.
On the one hand, I just watched Murder at World’s End , and the message was essentially “AI is bad.” On the other hand, the LG washer and dryer I’m currently testing does a great job of washing hands-free. Until further notice, I’ll happily take the robots.