The most questionable uses of artificial intelligence at CES 2026

You can’t shake a stick without bumping into an AI gadget at CES this year, with AI now found in every wearable, screen and device across the show, not to mention armies of… Artificial intelligence companions, games and robots.

But that’s just the beginning. We’ve seen AI pop up in more exotic places too, from hair clippers to vacuum cleaners, and at least one case where the manufacturer itself seemed unsure of what made its products “AI.”

Here are the tools we’ve seen at CES 2026 so far that extract “intelligence” from “AI.”

Glyde smart hair clipper

This is a product that would be ridiculous enough without Artificial Intelligence add-on. these Smart hair clipper Help amateur hairstylists get the perfect color by dynamically changing how close you cut, with the help of a sinister face mask that looks like it belongs in an eye doctor’s office.

But it’s taken to the next level by a real-time AI coach, which gives you feedback as you cut. Glyde told me that he’s working on voice control for the AI ​​as well, and that eventually it will be able to recommend certain hairstyles, as long as you’re willing to trust its style advice. You?

“Where grain meets artificial intelligence.”

That was the message spread across the SleepQ booth, where company representatives were present Distributing cereal boxes – Multivitamin with Ashwagandha Extract According to the box, it’s supposed to be good for sleep, though I wasn’t brave enough to test that claim on jet lag.

Manufacturer Welt, which originally emerged from a Samsung incubator, calls its product “AI-enhanced drug therapy.” It’s really just using biometric data from your smartwatch or sleep tracker to tell you the optimal time to take sleeping pills each day, with plans to cover anxiety medications, weight management medications, pain relief, and more.

There may be an argument that adjusting the time people take their pills might make them more effective, but I feel safe in saying that we don’t need to start throwing around the term “AI drugs.”

Startup Deglace claims it’s almost unnecessarily elegant looking Partial vacuum cleaner AI is used in two different ways: first to “optimize suction,” and then to manage repairs and replacements of the standard design.

It says its predictive neural AI monitors the vacuum’s performance to “detect problems before they happen,” giving you health scores for each of the vacuum’s components, which can be easily replaced with a quick order of parts from within the companion app. A cynic might worry that this is all in the name of selling expensive, user-owned parts, but I can at least make good on the promise of modular upgrades – assuming Deglace is able to deliver on that promise.

Most digital picture frames allow you to display photos of loved ones, old vacation snapshots, or your favorite pieces of art. Fremick Allows you to view AI regression.

It’s an e-ink photo frame with a microphone and voice controls, so you can describe any image you want, which the framework will then create using OpenAI’s GPT Image 1.5 model. The frame itself starts at $399, giving you 100 generations of photos each year, with the option to purchase more if you run out.

What makes Fraimic’s AI questionable is that it could be a great product without it. The E Ink panel looks great, you can use it to display your own photos and images too, and it consumes very little power to operate Years Without connecting it. We like it so much without the extra slip.

Infinix, a small phone maker that has enjoyed success across Asia for its affordable phones, didn’t launch any actual new products at CES this year, but it did introduce five concepts that could fit into future phones. Some are clever, like the various color-changing rear finishes and a couple of liquid cooling designs. Then there’s the AI ​​ModuVerse.

Modular phone concepts aren’t new, so AI is what makes ModuVerse unique in theory. One “mode” makes sense: a meeting facility that connects magnetically, generating AI texts and live translation on a small screen in the back.

But when I asked what made it all happen last AI, Infinix didn’t really have any good answers. The gimbal camera has AI stabilization, the vlogging lens uses AI to detect faces, and the microphone has AI sound isolation – all of which are technically AI-based, but not that interesting in any way. As for the stackable magnetic power banks, Infinix representatives eventually admitted that they don’t have any AI at all. Color me shocked.

There is a growing trend towards artificial intelligence and robotic cooking appliances – EdgeJane Toohey Review a $1,500 robot chef Just last month – but the Wan AIChef is something altogether less impressive: an AI-powered microwave.

It runs suspiciously like Android, with recipe suggestions, cooking instructions, and a camera inside so you can see the progress you’re making at what you’re doing. But…it’s just a microwave. So, it can’t actually do any cooking for you, other than heating your food to the right temperature (well, just plus or minus 3 degrees Celsius, to be exact).

It’ll plan meals, track food, and count calories, too, which sounds great as long as you’re willing to commit to eating all your meals outside of the AI-powered microwave. Please, I beg you, don’t eat all your meals out of an AI microwave.

The technology industry at all He loves Reinventing the vending machine and branding it with either robotics or artificial intelligence, and AI Barmen is no different.

This setup — which appears to be already used at private parties and corporate events — is actually just an automatic cocktail machine with a few AIs on top.

AI uses your connected webcam to estimate your age — in my case, it was eight — and make sure you’re sober enough to get another drink. He can also create custom drinks, with mixed success: When asked for something that would “fuck me,” he came up with the Funky Tequila Fizz, also known as tequila, triple sec, and soda. What, no absinthe?

Should you buy your child an AI toy that gives them a full-fledged LLM-powered chatbot to talk to? Maybe not. But what if this chatbot looked like Elon Musk’s chibi?

It’s just one of many avatars offered by Luka AI Cube, including Hayao Miyazaki and Steve from MinecraftAnd Harry Potter. Kids can chat with them about their day, ask for advice, or even share an AI Cube camera feed to show their AI avatars where they are and what they are doing. Luca says it’s a tool for fun and learning as well, with diverse learning activities and language options.

The big question in the room is whether you should trust a company’s guardrails enough to give a young child access to an MBA. Driving with Artificial Intelligence vs. Elon Musk – whose AI, Grok, is busy undressing children as we speak – Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.