How AI-powered devices are remodeling the Consumer Electronics Industry
By: Kajal Mishra
Tags: AI, Consumer Electronics, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Artificial Intelligence

AI-powered consumer electronics devices

Artificial Intelligence is an amalgam of key technologies including machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, natural language processing (NLP) and strong AI.

As per Global Market Insights, projected revenue for the Consumer Electronics market will be USD 1.5 Trillion by 2024.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Consumer Electronics (CE) Industry

With the emergence of new groundbreaking technologies like AI & machine learning, the consumer electronics sector is leading the race by integrating these technologies into their products. Incorporating AI & machine learning into their businesses are opening numerous growth opportunities for companies who want to enhance their customer experience.

The Consumer Electronics industry, being one of the prominent and inevitable segments, is embracing AI to be competitive and relevant in the coming years. The adoption of these tech-powered disruptive technologies is prevalent across all consumer electronics products. From conventional consumer electronics products such as smartphones, TVs, computers, cameras, speakers to voice-enabled devices, smart wearables, smart TVs are gaining the maximum traction. By adopting and leveraging AI, the consumer electronics industry is getting a reboot and able to see a stellar growth like never before.

Why is the CE sector witnessing breakthrough adoption of AI?

With the rising popularity of smart electronic devices, the consumer electronics industry is experiencing rapid growth. Companies are leaving no stone unturned to make our lives much easier by developing AI-driven consumer electronic products. With the increasing use of the internet and more urbanization, companies are investing heavily in breakthrough technologies like IoT, deep learning & AI. The same was quite evident during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020 in January held in Las Vegas. From first-ever 8K TVs, food-making chef robots, voice-assistants to a number of other exciting AI-powered devices were launched at the event.

• Changing consumer behavior

With rising urbanization and the use of the internet, consumer lifestyles are getting evolved, which are leading to change their preferences. Their growing inclination towards smart and intelligent devices has led to consumer electronics market growth at a very fast rate. With the aim of saving time and effort, the adoption of AI is becoming prevalent across all the industries.

• Abundance of data

In the CE industry, the availability of data can be seen through various online platforms in the form of audio, video, images, files, etc. To make the best use of these data has forced the companies to implement various cutting-edge technologies like AI, Machine learning, Deep learning & IoT. These data are being used to understand their customers, their preferences, and finding a way to engage them. For instance, while watching Netflix, it suggests video recommendations based on our content choice. It helps show makers to make a decision regarding project investment, selection of content.

• To remain competitive

It has become imperative for companies to incorporate AI into their businesses to get ahead of their competitors. Enhancing customer experience is becoming high on their agenda. Customers are opting for devices that could provide them more personalized experience in terms of communication and convenience.

• Availability of affordable AI-chipsets

A decade ago, companies were not using the AI chipsets owing to their unavailability or very high prices. Now, the CE sector has taken a storm by getting low-cost AI chipsets, which are easily available in the market. These AI-optimized low-cost, reliable, and high-performance AI chipsets are being widely adopted by the companies into their products.

Applications of AI in the Consumer electronics industry

Smart Homes

Monitor your home remotely and control the household activities wirelessly is no more a science fiction. AI has made everything possible with just a hint of your voice command.

Right from control our home appliances, monitor our homes to make it more secure to be a companion at times, these smart home devices are doing it all to make our lives easier than ever before.

Smart Security Systems

Introducing AI in home appliances is not just giving comfort but also making our homes a safer place. AI-powered security systems use technologies like facial recognition and voice assistants who use machine learning technology.

Facial recognition technology in AI-integrated cameras is used to identify the intruders and voice recognition technology is used for human-to-machine interaction & automation of domestic chores.

Digital Personal Assistants

AI-powered personal assistants work on speech recognition technology, where just a hint of your voice command will do everything. Imagine leaving your home without worrying about your work schedules, meetings, locking your door, switching off electronic devices, and coming home and just relaxing without thinking about your food, groceries, or anything.

Companies like Google, Amazon, and Apple are investing billions of dollars every year to make these devices smarter than before and could provide a more personalized experience to the users.

Enhanced Entertainment System

As the entertainment industry is booming, AI is unleashing its potential to change the outlook of the media & entertainment industry. Media companies are using machine learning, deep learning and computer vision to promote the content and expose it to a large group of audience.

Adopting AI into the entertainment industry enables companies to provide the right content to the right user, to know their customer preferences, and also to promote the content.

Wearables/ Fitness products

Owing to their user-friendly functionality, smart wearables are experiencing rapid growth. Smart wearables are used for real-time monitoring, like tracking, analyzing, and improving fitness.

It also pushes its boundaries with products that can provide wearables for elderly care, track remotely, diagnose the illness remotely, and inform the users to take care of their health based on the results.

Challenges faced by the CE industry

The picture of the consumer electronics industry is not always fascinating. The industry saw several hurdles in terms of obsolete technologies, skyrocketing prices, new technology adoption in getting their products accepted by customers.

• Customers are not only looking for advanced functionalities and innovative technologies but at the same time, affordable also. For example, Customers want their home theatres to have the option to be connected with other devices like TV, phone, and other streaming devices without paying any extra amount.

• Products or technologies fail when they refuse to go by the market rules. CE industry needs to embrace the ongoing technological revolution into their products. The chances of survival become negligible for the companies who fail to do so. For example, the era of traditional mobiles is gone, and AI-integrated smartphones are in demand.

• Before adopting the new technology into their businesses, CE companies need to anticipate the risks associated with it. Having the right balance between innovation and risk is the key to success. These risks could be related to data privacy, investment, acceptance, faster time-to-market.

Harness the true potential of AI in the CE industry

The era of Artificial intelligence has come, and it is in the process of transforming all of our lives. Integrating AI into the consumer electronics industry is making devices more autonomous and better at assisting users. CE industry is going through disruptive innovation, and consumers are becoming more demanding over the years.

Over time, consumers will demand cameras that can click the perfect picture with the right focus and angle without any human intervention using machine-learning technology and upload it on media platforms. AI-driven devices in retail, which can help consumers discover their ideal products, based on the user’s characteristics. The possibilities are countless.

If we look beyond the capabilities of AI, privacy is going to be the primary concern. The biggest challenge would be how much information we should share with these devices in order to get the valuable customized experience. But if we steer carefully, we could end up witnessing the big AI explosion in the coming years.