Humanising Homes: AI Integration Driving Homes to Think Like Humans People will adopt these homes only to realise the massive benefits that will follow in the wake of rapid technological evolution
By Ankush Tyagi
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After smartphones and automated cars, smart home is the next emerging innovation in India. In fact, digital technologies like internet of things (IoT), have already given people the control over their connected home appliances such as smart TVs, AC, fridge, micro oven, etc. using a smartphone. AI, however, has the unique potential to take this experience a notch higher by scaling up the intelligence level of machines, and therefore, strengthen the connection between man and machine, akin to Iron Man and Jarvis.
There is More to it!
The world is already seeing innovations like voice-activated devices - Alexa and Google Home. But it is just the beginning! With AI-driven smart homes, days are not far when one would be able to control the lighting, temperature and even home security systems through smartphones. Imagine a world when homes will treat its owner as a guest. For instance, an individual is about to reach home and, meanwhile, the home automatically starts doing the chores in advance like unlocking the door, switching on the lights, pulling up the curtains, etc.
Some of it is already a reality. Thanks to Bill Gates who developed a smart home system, which can identify an individual and his location in the house, and automatically dim the lights, basis previous preferences. In simple words, AI would introduce humans to a smart home era where these homes would independently take decisions to perform complex tasks without the human brain, essentially the manual chores.
How Will AI Automate Homes of the Future?
An AI-driven home would be able to analyze and keep a tab on certain activities such as for how long a particular room is lit during daytime and night-time, which device is mostly being used by an individual when an AC would need maintenance and much more.
AI will integrate more intelligence into the cloud, and enable it to observe the routine tasks performed by a human. For instance, when a home will be aware of one's workout goal, it will ping the individual on when to work out, how much calories can one burn in a certain kind of exercise, and when s/he is closer to attaining the workout goal.
Imagine a refrigerator automatically ordering milk or eggs after noticing that these items have been already consumed or may order items in advance after predicting that one may run low on a few necessities in the next 2-3 days.
During emergency situations, the house will take care of everything; from locking the door, turning off the lights, pulling the blinds, turning off the coffee maker and shutting off all the necessary electrical appliances. One would only need to step out, and command.
Saving Power, Saving Costs
In addition to freeing humans from most of the routine chores, what's more, interesting about smart homes is how efficiently they will save energy by mitigating the power usage. Putting devices off when not required, will eventually bring down the electricity cost and help individuals save money.
Home Security
Ensuring the safety of home and family would be the top-most priority for a smart home. With AI systems installed, these homes would be able to alert humans about problems before they turn into disasters. With active sensors all around, a smart home can trigger a slew of intelligent actions such as notifying the owner about a broken water tank, turning on sprinklers if there is fire, etc.
The Road Ahead
For an individual, smart homes could be a costly expense. However, sooner or later, people will adopt these homes only to realise the massive benefits that will follow in the wake of rapid technological evolution. However, there still remains a challenge. What if the security of these homes, too, get compromised just like smartphones (similar to what happened in Avengers: The Age of Ultron)? Thus, India is taking baby steps towards the smart home revolution. So keep calm as it will take some more time for smart homes to become a reality.
