During its expansive CES 2026 presentation, Samsung demonstrated a piece of AI tech that actually sounds useful: a smart refrigerator that keeps track of what you put inside, notifies you when food is about to expire and can recommend recipes to use up those aging items.
It’s not the first smart fridge we’ve ever seen (even Samsung’s released others before), but AI visual recognition has advanced to the point where this item-tracking feature sounds more feasible. Perhaps this would help me avoid forgetting about a half-used jar of salsa that got lost in the back sometime in 2023.
Samsung also demonstrated that the refrigerator is part of an ecosystem of connected devices. At CES, we saw a home robot boss around a smart vacuum while it was folding laundry and an AI system that told CNET’s Katelyn Chedraoui she looked old (with numbers to back up that analysis, but dehydration and sleep-deprivation incurred by covering the event will age anyone temporarily).
But it’s the background nattering of connected devices that could do me in, as if my household is quietly plotting against me. Smartwatches and smart scales already collect biometric and exercise data.
Will the large screen on the outside of the fridge put up a warning if I add too many types of cheese? Will it give me a stern warning when it detects a pie? “It’s for a party later,” I’ll say, finding myself pleading to yet another overly conversational voice assistant. “There will be lots of people. That also explains all the beer.”
Later that night, the smart vacuum, indoor and outdoor security cameras and smart speakers will note there were no additional people in the house and no party music playing. The next time I reach for a snack, should I expect a talking-to about what actually transpired?
Or maybe when I go for a walk, the smartwatch will display the exercise’s duration, distance and a new item in bold red letters: “Calories required to burn off last night’s pie.”
My colleague Vanessa Hand Orellana has written about smart exercise coaches and how she wishes they could be a bit more demanding for people who need an extra kick to push them past their exercise goals. Maybe a nagging ecosystem that puts all these lifestyle pieces together can serve the same purpose? At the very least, let there be a setting that dials down the scolding intensity.
I’ll need to think this over with some more cheese (to clear out space in the fridge, you understand).
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