CES 2025 was full of IRL AI slop | TechCrunch

Las Vegas: It’s 2025, and honestly, companies still seem confused about AI. This year’s CES was a wild ride, showcasing AI-powered kitchen gadgets and baby cribs that really didn’t need AI at all.

Take Spicerr, for instance. It’s a fancy spice dispenser with a touchscreen that claims to learn your taste. But wait, it doesn’t even grind spices and uses pricey capsules that can’t be refilled. Seriously, who asked for a salt and pepper shaker that suggests meals?

Then there’s Dreo’s ChefMaker 2, an AI air fryer. Sounds cool, right? It can scan cookbooks and figure out cooking times. But do we really need an air fryer that scans pages? I’ve never thought, “Man, I wish my air fryer could do that!”

And it gets weirder. Razer introduced Project Ava, an “AI gaming copilot.” It’s supposed to help you play games by giving tips, but it’s a bit of a mess. It captures your screen and interrupts your game with advice, but it’s slow and distracting. Who’s actually going to use this?

These quirky AI products seem to reflect the industry’s hype train. Last year, AI companies raked in $97 billion in the U.S. alone. Vendors are just throwing ideas out there to see what works, and there’s not much risk in doing so.

But the reality is, many of these products hit the limits of what AI can actually do. Companies often promise the moon but deliver far less. ChatGPT still makes mistakes, and AI-generated images can be pretty off. We’re left with this odd mix of air fryers, spice dispensers, and gaming helpers that most of us didn’t ask for.

Here’s hoping for something better next year!

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