I’m back today from holiday, but gone tomorrow. As I try to close down the year, I decided to re-run How Much AI Do We Need? as it was an interesting look back at a piece from 2020, when the LLM/GenAI hype wasn’t a thought in most people’s minds. Instead, the AI systems were simpler and more focused on specific siutations.

I find myself thinking back a bit and thinking about the world back then and re-reading the linked article. In that one it seems like “smart” is more about better communication and coordination in the kitchen, and less about the appliances having any intelligence. Some of the image recognition items might lightly be called AI/ML work, but most of the added features aren’t.

Re-read the piece and article and think about how much AI do you need, or want.