AI at CES 2024—what brands need to know

If you’re interested in AI and attending CES, you’re in massive luck. The technology will be “really embedded and infused into everything at CES,” said Marla Kaplowitz, president and CEO of 4A’s, the advertising trade group. The electronics show this week has highlighted voice-enabled tech for years, but the recent rise of AI and chatbots could make gadgets and services even more useful, Kaplowitz said. For eager advertisers, chatbots will continue to command the lion’s share of attention as providers like Meta and Microsoft will seek to woo brands into partnerships with new developments to their AI assistant technology. But not all the AI talk will center on software. CES, after all, is mainly a hardware conference, and this year’s gadgets are expected to reflect last year’s surge in AI popularity. Brands will have the chance to see AI-powered toilets, mirrors, pet sitters, TVs and more—an experience that will be both over-the-top and necessary for understanding the direction in which AI development is heading. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs But brands need to recognize all the implications of AI, not just the positive or quirky ones. Data and privacy are still question marks when it comes to AI and brand safety, and advertisers will need to ask the right questions in open- and closed-door conversations with providers. “You have to really get into what type of AI we are talking about, what does it do,” Kaplowitz said, “and then we have all other concerns around privacy. You’ve got this data that continues to be generated and leveraged.” Related: A marketing guide to CES 2024 Chatbot City Around last year’s CES, OpenAI’s ChatGPT was just beginning to make waves, and Microsoft was laying the groundwork to incorporate the technology across its platform. This year, Google is talking about its advanced AI chatbot, Gemini, and brands are trying to figure out how to partner with all these ecosystems, Kaplowitz said. “The chatbots have tremendous capability,” she said. “The key for brands is making sure they understand what the customer experience is like.” Each tech provider will be showcasing their own developments behind closed doors, and brands should prepare for these meetups by entering with a list of questions that are pertinent to their business, said Dan Gardner, chief executive of agency Code and Theory. These inquiries should address the long-term potential of prospective partnerships, including the length of a typical commitment and the ways in which a provider can guarantee that a brand’s experience on the platform will be competitive, said Gardner. To this end, a brand should determine to what degree a platform will allow them to retain their unique identity, said Dipanjan Chatterjee, VP and principal analyst at Forrester. “If I were a brand talking in a room at the Aria, I would say, ‘I want the customer to feel supported by me, not you [the tech provider],’” he said. In these back rooms, providers will also need to answer some of the concerns still surrounding AI. “I would be asking about the protection of my own data,” said Gardner, adding that the potential for AI platforms to become super capable applications themselves requires brands to determine now if a partnership will leverage their data and insights properly. The conversations should also touch on the types of customer interactions that could be made possible through various AI platforms. Although text-to-text generation is the most proven use case, other forms of media are quickly being developed, such as text-to-video, which has especially relevant use cases for brands looking to create quick, digitally-focused ads. One company called Leia Inc. is even showcasing early AI technology that can convert 2D video into 3D. In addition to Google, the big players to keep in mind are Amazon, Microsoft and Meta. Amazon, which has only recently jumped head-first into the AI craze, is expected to announce a generative AI partnership with BMW at CES, per Reuters. Microsoft is unveiling a button on its Windows keyboard that will serve as a shortcut to its enterprise chatbot service, Copilot. And although Meta will primarily be focusing on client engagement behind closed doors, a spokesperson said, its discussions will more than likely touch on its growing menu of AI chatbots for brands. Meanwhile, OpenAI is choosing this week to launch its GPT Store for custom-built bots, according to The Verge. While the AI powerhouse will not officially appear at CES, a spokesperson confirmed, its presence in the AI space will still be felt as brands weigh partnerships with other AI providers, as well as mull over its reported hardware crossover with former Apple design guru Jony Ive. One outcome of OpenAI’s near-debacle in November, which saw Sam Altman ousted from and then re-established in his CEO role, is that customers are now looking to strike deals with a variety of AI providers to avoid being too reliant on any one. OpenAI is still the lead horse in this race, but competitors are close behind. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs AI toilets, pet sitters and TVs The gadgets will be out at CES, and many will incorporate developments in AI that allow for new and sometimes strange capabilities spanning beauty, music, smart home, TV and more. An AI-powered toilet, which supposedly offers easy urinalysis in the comfort of one’s own home, will be showcased by Yellosis. Early versions of the tech made a, um, splash at last year’s show, but with a year of redesign, the product could see a cleaner execution. An AI mirror, created by Mirrorroid Inc, will attempt to give users a futuristic salon experience by using Face ID technology to simulate hairstyles and other looks. Beauty giant L’Oréal will have a big presence at this year’s show, and could very well showcase new innovations during its keynote address on Tuesday. The company has previously used CES to exhibit tools around inclusivity, such as last year’s HAPTA makeup applicator for people with limited fine motor skills. LG is unveiling a smart home AI agent that has two legs and is intended to watch over a person’s home while they’re away. This little robot can supposedly handle a lot of responsibility, including pet-sitting, acting as a security guard and finding lights that have been left on and windows that have been left open. AI has also infiltrated TVs, wherein the technology can intelligently tinker with settings formerly left to the user, such as brightness and volume. LG and Roku are both showcasing products with AI processing, and other companies are expected to jump into the trend as well. Of course, one caveat to keep in mind is just how “AI-powered” any of these tools actually are. As the term has grown in popularity, it has also diminished in meaning—a reality that can easily be exploited by companies given the massive umbrella of the AI space. “‘AI’ is the label that has replaced all other labels,” said Forrester’s Chatterjee, alluding to previous CES buzzwords like “smart” and “voice-enabled.” How much of this infrastructure is enabled by actual innovation? This is a question that brands should consider if they wish to avoid being duped by tricky marketing and flashing lights on the show floor. Brands should focus on the specific use case that is being offered, not the underlying technology that is being marketed, according to Gardner. If the product is delivering something that hasn’t existed in such a way before, he said, that’s a sign that it’s worth paying attention to. Contributing: Garett Sloane

AI at CES 2024—what brands need to know

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