Since when did the term "smart" gradually spread in the tech product circle, until it has become today's mainstream trend? "Smart" refrigerators, "smart" TVs, "smart" air conditioners, "smart" phones, "smart" speakers - these products carrying the "smart" label have launched a series of offensives around our lives.
After the super explosion of smart devices... it seems there hasn't been much progress. After the super explosion of smart devices... it seems there hasn't been much progress.
Since then, an interesting phenomenon has also formed in the market. In the era of the "smart" concept explosion, almost all tech products have to ride on the "smart" bandwagon. It seems that any familiar physical product can be elevated by simply adding "smart" in front of it. Perhaps from the name, it really seems so, but when users use the product, is it really "smart"?
After connecting with your phone, will the clothes walk in by themselves? After connecting with your phone, will the clothes walk in by themselves?
Take an air conditioner that boasts "smart" as an example. If at this stage it can only control temperature, mode, and other functions after connecting with a phone, the so-called "smart" attitude is merely reducing one remote control. Would it be an exaggeration to call it "pseudo-smart"? The current home appliance market is filled with such "pseudo-smart" concepts. More "smart" products that are more hype than practical emerge endlessly, but after all the fuss, there is no real progress.
If a product's so-called "smart" cannot bring consumers the due "smart" experience, should consumers pay for these "pseudo-smart" products?
What is true "smart"? What is true "smart"?
The question "What exactly counts as a smart device?" is rarely discussed, but everyone tacitly agrees that having hardware conditions, such as a chip, a WiFi module, is "smart". To use the brain as an analogy, whether it is "smart" depends on whether it has a brain, regardless of whether that brain is effectively utilized. Is this view correct? The popularity of the IOT (Internet of Things) concept may be the trend, but from the market environment down to products, and then to user experience, is the concept of "smart" really that simple?
From market to product, forcibly aligning with IOT and hard-selling "smart" - is this big direction correct at the current stage? In my view, the current "smart" product market, besides its vigorous vitality, also needs reflection on the concept of "smart".
Reflection on intelligence: IOT might just be a transitional period
Since the advent of smartphones, "smart" has been cloaked in the guise of a smart system. The independent system of handheld devices allows phones to intervene in other electronic devices, thereby realizing the function of a remote control. Devices that can be controlled by mobile apps have also been called "smart" devices. In fact, these functions have been appearing since 2012, but you will find that to this day, the development of so-called mobile interconnection functions is also very slow. The 2012 phone-as-remote-control has not changed much by 2017.
Do we really need our phones as remote controls? Do we really need our phones as remote controls?
Two essential elements that smart devices need to possess
What exactly is intelligence? In my view, a qualified smart device should have the ability to perceive the environment. For example, an air conditioner should be able to adjust the indoor temperature appropriately based on the owner's body temperature and physical condition. Second, it should have the ability to recognize things. For example, a refrigerator should be able to recognize the ingredients inside, provide expiration date information, and suggest dinner recipes that best match the owner's taste, including which ingredients are missing and whether to purchase fresh ingredients online.
However, what current smart refrigerators can do is really unworthy of the word "smart". However, what current smart refrigerators can do is really unworthy of the word "smart".
Only such smart devices can we call smart, not a so-called "smart" refrigerator that still requires you to hold your phone and stand foolishly in front of it, adjusting temperature and humidity. Because its perception ability can automatically adjust the temperature to the optimal range for the internal ingredients. This is an improvement in perception and cognition, and it is also the urgent task for devices after they have mature data analysis and filtering capabilities under the current big data and cloud computing context. Only with the above two functions can it perhaps be called a truly smart device.
IOT is just a transition; the future combination of AI and IoT is the direction of "smart"
Only when IOT combines with AI (Artificial Intelligence) will it be the perfect smart era. Only when IOT combines with AI (Artificial Intelligence) will it be the perfect smart era.
Taking the current IOT (Internet of Things) concept as an example, even if all devices in your home are connected to your phone, it only reduces the number of remote controls. Devices with only IoT functionality certainly cannot be called smart. Therefore, in the future, IOT and AI (Artificial Intelligence) are bound to develop in combination. With AI's big data capabilities, what stage has AI developed to now?
It's hard to love you: AI is still just an artificial idiot
What will AI develop into? Imagine when it intervenes in your life, a mature AI will integrate into every bit of your life. Imagine an AI that monitors your refrigerator, knows what you like to eat, and after connecting with the refrigerator, it will automatically place orders online when ingredients run out. It connects with your smart bracelet, knows you have a cold, and adjusts the air conditioner temperature higher. See how thoughtful that is? That is intelligence!
Siri is currently also an "artificial idiot". Siri is currently also an "artificial idiot".
Now, for some artificial intelligence we can encounter in our lives, a simple example is "Siri". At this stage, artificial intelligence mostly appears in our lives as a "voice assistant", more commonly used in smart speakers and TVs. It can only help you change a program or play a song. At the current stage, AI voice cannot even let you completely throw away the remote control. That's all.
How can we perfectly combine AI with hardware? Is the smart speaker direction correct?
If AI is to be perfectly integrated into life, it must have a carrier. Currently, AI systems mostly appear in TVs and speakers. With the support of big data, what role does the smart speaker play at home? Voice control to play music or check the weather might work, but this simple voice interaction cannot give us the most intuitive experience. If we could combine hearing and vision to feed information back to the user, it might be more useful.
Amazon smart speaker Amazon smart speaker
In summary, I do not think the current AI speaker is a correct direction for the "smart" concept. It is more of a novelty experience. Whether they can be combined with display devices in the future is the key.
Final thoughts:
The concept of IoT is not that simple. The concept of IoT is not that simple.
There is no denying that the "smart" era is coming. The linkage between AI and IOT is always more significant than the current forced and hard-selling of "smart". Perhaps at this stage, many developers are going in the wrong direction. How to implement the concept of smart is about ecosystem construction and integration. How to make good use of existing resources and unify the interactivity between products and users as much as possible is the top priority, not the current "smart for the sake of being smart".
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