IFA 2026 sells a hollow future of AI-driven dependency
By Caroline Ashford · Reporting from Richmond, Virginia ·
The brochures for IFA 2026 in Berlin are shimmering with the promise of "Intelligent Possibilities." But as I read the reports of the "smart home of the future," I don't see a…
Brochures for IFA 2026 in Berlin promise "Intelligent Possibilities." These reports of the "smart home of the future" do not describe a sanctuary. They describe a surrender. Companies ask us to trade the quiet competence of domestic life for a life where no door needs a key and no light needs a switch, managed by algorithms in Qingdao and Beijing.
Why automate the bedroom?
Andrew Lanxon of CNET, whose travel Xiaomi funded, describes an array of automation. Xiaomi bedrooms use AI cameras to track reading habits and slide the curtains. Robot vacuums wake up the moment a dishwasher finishes its cycle. MyJoyOnline reports that TECNO is showcasing phones that snap apart and gaming PCs small enough to fit in a pocket. This echoes the 2007 iPhone launch, which promised that a network of linked apps would simplify life.
Haier Europe CEO Neil Tunstall says automating "basic tasks" liberates the user. He argues that removing the drudgery of the vacuum or the lawnmower frees the human spirit for family and creativity. But this vision mistakes the activity of living for the burden of labor.
The Robotic Oven
The company is betting 13 billion euros—the price of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier—on AI and robotics. The CEO said an oven that "sees" its contents removes the uncertainty of a novice cook. He believes this helps people enjoy eating at home.
For someone raised where the scent of a Sunday roast taught patience, this is a loss. The "variation" Tunstall wants to erase is where the human resides. Confidence in the kitchen is a skill earned through burnt edges and salty sauces, passed from mother to daughter. When we outsource this to a Chinese conglomerate's AI, we trade family recipes for a corporate algorithm.
We have seen this movie before
This pitch mirrors the New York World's Fair of 1939 and 1964. The 1939 fair promised television and automated kitchens; the 1964 version promised the moon. Both events presented a "World of Tomorrow" to shape what consumers wanted, promising that technology would solve the struggle to get through a day. The world saw a similar push to sterilize and integrate every room during the 2010 Winter Olympics, where sensors tracked every movement of the athlete and the spectator, prioritizing the system over the citizen. The technology never delivered liberation, but a dependency that erodes the neighborhood shop and the family table.
Companies tell us these systems will not replace the human, but they replace the smell of burnt toast and the sound of a scrubbing brush. A house that thinks for you eventually makes you obsolete. If we trade the instinct to stir a pot or fold a sheet for a "smart" ecosystem, we will live in houses that are perfectly optimized and entirely hollow—homes where the temperature is always 72 degrees, but no one knows how to fix a leaky faucet. Our children will know how to swipe an interface, but they will not know how to feed themselves.