Does a toothbrush need AI? CES 2025 showcases risks of aimless innovation
CES 2025 was, unsurprisingly, all about AI. But AI toothbrushes and other gimmicks risk reducing AI to a marketing buzzword and hindering real progress, writes Paul Armstrong
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held every January in Las Vegas, has once again cemented itself as the ultimate showcase of technological ambition and absurdity. This year’s defining characteristic was unmistakable: AI dominated every corner of the show, from meaningful integrations to blatant bandwagoning. CES’s obsession with AI-powered everything reflects an industry torn between solving real problems and chasing trends – a tension that demands accountability and deeper strategic thinking. Indeed, it is akin to what a lot of businesses are going through right now with implementing AI in their businesses and strategies. In short, no-one knows what the jobs to be done should be.
With over 138,000 attendees and 2.5m square feet of floor space, CES is a beast that’s primarily for businesses – startups, multinationals, retailers, distributors, and financiers – to see what’s coming and what they should be ordering over the next 12 months. CES is known for hyperbolic launches, transformative prototypes and an overwhelming amount of “innovation” that often feels more like a gimmick with a whiff of desperation.
CES 2025: From gimmicks to breakthroughs
CES has always thrived on its mix of the bizarre and the groundbreaking, and 2025 delivered in spades. Some notable entrants include: Mirumi, the furry little companion bot that mimics a shy infant; Moonbuddies, a device that teaches kids deep breathing; Hisong’s Air Studio One which offers pro audio on the go in a retro microphone; Ecoflow’s solar-energy generating Power Hat; and Swippit, a swappable phone case battery for busy homes. None are likely to win an environmental award or mass market adoption.
Amid these oddities, serious advancements emerged. Sony unveiled the Afeela 1, a $90,000 electric car developed with Honda, which doubles as an AI platform adapting to user behaviour to redefine transportation. AMD and Qualcomm showcased AI-enhanced chips like Ryzen AI and Snapdragon X, democratising AI for everyday devices and mid-tier computing. These innovations promise seamless intelligence integrated into tools for smaller firms and consumers, laying the groundwork for a future where AI empowers users without overwhelming them.
Despite these breakthroughs, the pervasive rush to label products – and businesses – as “AI-powered” exposed everyone’s A(i)chilles’ heel: overhype. Gadgets like toothbrushes with AI and fitness trackers with ever smarter algorithms often feel like superficial iterations rather than transformative innovations. This trend risks reducing AI to a marketing buzzword, much like “smart” or “cloud” in past years. Does any toothbrush need AI? Such questions should guide product development, but too often they’re ignored in favour of flashy labels.
How should we be using AI?
The focus on AI across CES offers an essential question for businesses: what are the jobs that need to be done? This obsession with AI-powered everything is not merely about technology but about strategy. Companies need to critically evaluate their offerings, asking whether these innovations are solving real problems or simply following trends.
Accountability is key: Who benefits? Who pays the price? And most importantly, why does this need to exist? The true differentiator in this crowded market will be clarity of purpose. Successful firms will move beyond the flashiness of AI labels and anchor their developments in genuine value creation. This means looking beyond immediate market hype to focus on long-term impact, scalability and the actual needs of their customers.
Still, I’d argue that AI remains underhyped when viewed through the lens of its broader potential. The technology’s capacity to solve systemic challenges – including femtech, retail inefficiencies and climate change – is immense, but its implementation often gets overshadowed by trivial applications. For example, while fluffy bag companions grab headlines, AI-powered diagnostic tools capable of detecting early-stage diseases struggle to gain equivalent attention. We need to solve problems, and do the jobs that need to be done, not placate and obscure what’s really going on.
CES 2025 delivers a brutal truth for businesses struggling with AI: aimless innovation encourages irrelevance and squanders potential. Purpose-driven development is essential to deliver long-term impact for businesses, just as with technology. For a lot of businesses, AI can either become a transformative tool for purpose-driven growth or dissolve into another cautionary tale of squandered potential. The choice lies with the leaders guiding this charge, and the strategy they put in place based on real jobs to be done.
Paul Armstrong is founder of TBD Group and author of Disruptive Technologies