CES diary day one: AI everything



The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas combines the tech world's most incredible, weirdest, and most useless impulses in one show. You get a sneak peek at the gadgets and gear that will make a splash in the coming year. It’s 2 million square feet, 200,000 people, and 5,000 companies coming together to showcase the best that Silicon Valley and the world have to offer. It also is acres of silly products no one needs. Does your oven need to have Alexa integration? Probably not. Does a massage chair need to have artificial intelligence? I’m going to go out on a limb and say no.

The name of the game this year is AI. Every conceivable product touts its integration with this burgeoning tech. The usefulness of a large language model for your toilet remains to be seen. But it’s the hot piece of technology every journalist and company is keen to promote, so it’s ubiquitous.

Landing in Vegas and driving into the Strip always reminds me of how much Vegas is America distilled into a city. Not the civic-minded ideals of Americana, but rather a decadent corporation that can fulfill every desire our late-stage capitalist society can imagine. It’s opulence and vice, charisma and cringe, all in a desert mirage. Now with a giant sphere staring at tourists with its all-seeing eye, but more on that next post.

David Becker/Formula 1/Getty Images

Getting in midday, I decided to stick to the Venetian and Wynn to explore their convention halls. I’ve always loved walking Eureka Park, reserved for up-and-coming startup companies hunting for VC money. There’s a fantastic vibe of enthusiasm and pure entrepreneurial spirit mixed with huckster vibes, making for an exhilarating atmosphere.

There’s also the reminder of why technology can be so cool when it can benefit society in novel ways. I saw two companies trying to help blind people with haptic inputs to help them “see” the world. One company used a cane with inputs for blind children, and the other used glasses to help blind people walk around by buzzing when something was blocking their paths. That’s pretty darn cool.

You can also find Daymond John from "Shark Tank" promoting an amazing wireless TV.

Invariably, there will be tech that terrifies you. Going through the Amazon House of the Future was one of those moments. There are beds that track your sleep patterns and glasses that allow you to talk to Alexa 24/7 as it pumps sound into your brain.

As well as baby's first touch screen.

But what was truly disturbing was the hell-spawned monstrosity of creepiness called Moxie. It’s a robot/doll with a human-like face that uses ChatGPT to “talk” to young children. It’s almost impossible to express how off-putting this product was.

Creepy kids robot has emotions! 😳😳😳 youtube.com

In the future, we won’t have to raise our children; we can just rely on demonic AI androids to do it for us. And if you resist they can send a different AI robot to hunt you down.

Mr. Potato Head is no longer a 'mister' after Hasbro retools toy to be gender neutral



Hasbro, the makers of Mr. Potato Head, has announced that the longtime toy has been made over — and now has no fixed gender.

Mr. Potato Head, a childhood staple for many generations of children, has been around for about seven decades.

What are the details?

According to a Thursday report from the Associated Press, Hasbro has renamed Mr. Potato Head to honor his gender neutrality and will call him simply "Potato Head."

The change, the AP reports, will be rolled out across packaging this year.

The new "Potato Heads," Bloomberg reports, will be more "sustainably made," citing a company presentation to investors.

"Last year, Hasbro said the products would be made from 'plant-based plastic' and have less plastic packaging," Bloomberg noted.

The outlet also noted that Hasbro, beginning in the fall, will sell Potato Head family kits.

A spokesperson told Bloomberg that the kits will come with two "non-gendered 'adult' potatoes, one 'baby' potato, and 42 accessories."

"That will let kids decide the parents' gender, rather than being told they are 'Mr.' and 'Mrs,'" the outlet pointed out, noting that "the traditional Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head dolls will still 'live on as part of the brand,'" the company said, without elaborating.

What has been the response to this?

Social media reaction has been mixed, with most people leaning toward panning the company for its move.

Former CNN host Piers Morgan tweeted, "Imagine thinking in the middle of a global pandemic: 'What's really important is dropping the 'Mr' from Mr Potato Head & making him gender-neutral in case we upset a few wokies.'"

Imagine thinking in the middle of a global pandemic: 'What's really important is dropping the 'Mr' from Mr Potato H… https://t.co/wie6jh7EWO
— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan)1614275706.0

Congressional candidate Catalina Lauf tweeted, "Wow... Hasbro got rid of Mrs. Potato Head just like that? Between this and destroying women's sports — the left culture and policy stance has actually created the ultimate war on women[.]"

Twitter user louise leslie — who identifies as nonbinary — didn't think much of the company putting a refreshed spin on the toy, and wrote, "As a non binary I'm more pissed off with the poor treatment of workers than the pronouns of a toy. Monopolies are attempting to fabricate a culture war to deflect these deep faults in capitalism."

Another user added, "This is marketing stupidity. You want to include a gender neutral version, fine. Combine the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head gear into one box and call it 'Potato Head.' To drop 'Mr.' and/or 'Mrs.' potato head will only lead to decreased sales."

User jaded gamer added, "You do understand that by making the potato head gender neutral kids can make the figure make or female if they want right. Like you do understand this since it seems very clear...."