At this year's CES conference in Las Vegas, the world's biggest consumer technology companies are hoping to make a splash by showcasing new chips, robots and artificial intelligence-enabled devices.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Every January, everyone in the tech world flocks to Las Vegas for one of the largest industry shows on the planet, CES, also known as the Consumer Electronics Show. That's the equivalent of 10 or 12 city blocks of companies showing off their latest gadgets, from smart Lego bricks to high-tech diapers. NPR technology correspondent John Ruwitch is here. He's on the line. Hello John.
JOHN RUVICH, BYLINE: Hello.
KELLY: Hello. Such smart Lego and technological diapers. I didn't have that on my bingo card to say on air today. Tell me more.
RUVICH: (Laughter) Yeah, there's so many crazy and interesting things and a lot of people. You can hear them in the background. That's why Lego presented interactive bricks at the exhibition. They have chips in them. They make sounds and light up. And yes, there will be Star Wars sets. And a Japanese company I came across introduced a smart diaper. This is a healthcare product for the elderly. It uses sensors to track how much liquid the diaper has absorbed and uses that liquid to power the sensors. These are just two examples of the tens of thousands of things presented here. I saw giant and ultra-thin new TVs, less than a centimeter thick, a drone with machine guns on it, intended, of course, for the defense industry, wearable exoskeletons that help you walk. And a South Korean company is developing a robot to fix holes on golf courses.
KELLY: Of course it is. As a parent, I will say that smart LEGOs are a nightmare. And yet, tell me, do you observe any trends among all these gadgets?
RUVICH: Yeah, there are a few things that really stuck out to me. First, I'm really surprised by how much artificial intelligence is being implemented into products that are in development for consumers. So artificial intelligence as consumers know it really looks set to expand widely from chatbots and AI on your laptop to AI in physical objects that you can use. Think about AI-enabled wearables such as smart glasses, bracelets, rings. There are also products that aim to make AI part of your everyday life. Healthcare company Abbott Laboratories has launched a product for diabetics here. Sunny Nagra, the company's product director, showed it to me. He used their app to take a photo of a fake plate of spaghetti.
SUNNY NAGRA: So he's analyzing this photograph. This ruins it. It predicts the effect it will have on glucose levels. But what is also very cool is that the AI ​​will give useful advice.
RUVICH: Very useful AI-enabled tips to help you control your glucose levels.
KELLY: Okay, this seems to be in line with the broader trend of all the noise in the tech space around AI. Were there any big announcements related to AI?
RUVICH: Yes. Intel, in which the government took a stake last year, announced it is now selling a new cutting-edge artificial intelligence chip for PCs. Analysts I spoke with said this is a major milestone in the potential comeback story. AMD and Nvidia, giants in the world of artificial intelligence processors, have announced new artificial intelligence chips. And for Nvidia, actually, this is an interesting time. You know, the company usually makes big events like this by releasing announcements at its annual developer conference, which is less than three months away. CEO Jensen Huang said the company's production pace is accelerating. Nvidia is now committed to annual updates, and yesterday at a press conference he said that this is necessary.
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JENSEN HUANG: Otherwise, you'll stay put for two years, three years, four years. This is really too long considering how quickly technology is advancing.
RUVICH: Nvidia was one of the most popular companies on Earth. Its share price has risen sharply over the past couple of years and the company is under a lot of pressure.
KELLY: Okay, what else do you think we might see in the near future?
RUVICH: Well, the robots are coming for us, Mary Louise. The companies I saw seemed to gather crowds around their robots that did human tasks, very precise things. The Singapore company Sharpa, which I saw, had robots with very sensitive, dexterous, human-like hands. So, one of these robots held a Polaroid camera and took pictures of people. One was playing ping pong. Another was folding paper into pinwheels. And what got the most attention, perhaps unsurprisingly here in Las Vegas, was the blackjack hand.
KELLY: Love it. NPR's John Ruwiche with the latest from CES in Las Vegas. Thanks John.
RUVICH: You're welcome.
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