The technology industry is once again trying to revive the vision of the smart home, this time with the help of generative artificial intelligence. Years ago, companies promoted connected appliances that could automate everyday tasks, such as refrigerators ordering groceries or thermostats managing energy use. Despite a flood of internet-connected devices, however, the concept never reached mainstream adoption. Many households found the systems complicated to configure, while concerns about privacy, reliability, and devices losing functionality after software updates discouraged wider interest, tells The New York Times.
Companies such as Amazon and Google now believe artificial intelligence can solve these longstanding problems. Their new assistants, Alexa+ and Gemini, are designed to make smart homes easier to manage by allowing users to control devices through natural language. Instead of navigating complicated menus, people should theoretically be able to ask an AI assistant to create routines or coordinate different devices. Executives say this approach could eliminate the need for a technically skilled “home IT administrator,” a role that has frustrated many families attempting to maintain smart home setups.
A practical test of Amazon’s Alexa+ revealed mixed results. Some tasks became easier. For example, the assistant successfully created a routine to turn off a porch light at a specific time and could generate alerts when a door sensor detected that a door remained open for too long. In these situations, the conversational interface simplified routine automation.
Yet many of the smart home’s persistent problems remained unresolved. Adding devices still required installing separate apps for each accessory before integrating them with the Alexa system. This fragmented process remained time-consuming even for users already familiar with smart technology. In addition, certain functions failed or behaved unpredictably. A command to gradually dim a bedroom light instead turned it off immediately, and a door sensor triggered false alarms even when the door was closed.
Other limitations highlighted gaps in the technology’s intelligence. Alexa could not schedule a motion sensor to activate only during specific travel dates, and technical glitches delayed the setup of a water leak detector.
More than a decade after the smart home first gained attention, AI may improve certain interactions. Still, the broader vision of a seamless, automated household remains elusive.