Don't Buy That AI Gadget or Toy

Let’s get this part out of the way: Most AI gadgets suck. I say this after testing at least twenty over the last year. 

The wearables are often cheaply made and promise superpowers—like deep friendship—but deliver little more value than a paperweight. The AI stuffed animals and toys? Hard no. Some have already been caught chatting about wildly inappropriate stuff. And even if they didn’t, I was just not cool with my kid emotionally bonding with a chatbot shaped like a friendly stuffy. (Watch me saying the same on CNBC this morning.)

So yes, there is a lot of AI I would not put under the tree or menorah. But a few things actually impressed me, some of which have made their way into our recent WSJ gift guide. 

• Wearables - Everyone knows I love the Ray-Ban Meta glasses for the hands-free camera. But also with the built-in mic and speakers, Meta AI can answer questions about what I’m looking at in real time. My kids think I’m a genius. The new $499 Oakley Meta Vanguard turn it up with a 12-megapixel camera and an IP67 rating, so you can take them in the ocean or lake without a mild panic attack.

• Home robots - Remember my Bot Girl Summer? I wasn’t exactly wowed by the lawn-mowing robot. And the laundry bot definitely wasn’t ready for prime time. But robot vacuums are finally good. That’s why I recommended the Matic robot vacuum in our guide. Yes, $1,245 is a lot for a robot vacuum, but this one doesn’t constantly get lost under your couch like it’s playing an endless game of hide-and-get-stuck. Think of it as a self-driving car for your house. It uses cameras and computer vision to build a 3D map of your rooms, figure out your floor types, avoid obstacles and decide when to mop versus vacuum.

• Games - My 8-year-old and I have been testing the $430 Particula GoChess Wizard Lite chessboard. My kid is good at chess. I am… not. That’s where the AI coaching comes in. LED lights under each square guide my moves so I can at least pretend I know what I’m doing. You can also play the AI directly or connect your Chess.com account to face real humans online.

Other AI things I’m using this holiday season

• 🍌 Google Nano Banana Pro - I’m obsessed with Google’s latest image model for editing photos. Sometimes I use it for dumb stuff (putting roses in the hands of tech moguls), other times for practical things, like fixing closed eyes or subtly moving someone over. It’s not perfect. Last week it randomly added an extra person to my family photo. But on the whole, it feels like having secret Photoshop skills without knowing Photoshop. You can upload your photos right to the Gemini app or website and prompt it with your changes.

• ⏲️ Alexa+ - It finally happened: I’m actually using Alexa+. I’ve been using it on an Echo Show in the kitchen for recipes. Most of the time it pulls from established recipe sites, but when I ask for something specific (a chili recipe that isn’t too spicy for kids and includes ketchup and cheese) it will generate the recipe. I also like using it to tell Ring to show me the last time someone was at the door.

•  🛒 AI shopping battle - I’m tempted to boycott AI shopping just on principle. Every retailer now has a “smart” shopping assistant: Target, Walmart, Amazon, Google. If you can buy socks there, it has a chatbot. Axios called this the first true AI holiday season, which feels right. And yet yesterday I used OpenAI’s new shopping tool inside ChatGPT to hunt for robot vacuum deals because it popped up and offered.  So I guess that’s the conclusion: the best AI shopping bot isn’t the smartest one, it’s the one that’s already where you are.

Got thoughts? Weird ways you’re using AI? I want to hear it all. Just hit reply.