As the former "world factory," China's traditional home appliance industry is accelerating the exploration and application of various artificial intelligence technologies to adapt to the diverse needs of the consumer side and seek a path for the industry-wide "smart upgrade."



　　Robot vacuums that can collect temperature, humidity, and air quality index data, and formulate and update cleaning plans; smart refrigerators that regularly monitor the expiration dates of food inside, alert users to expired items, and can also automatically generate recipes and help users create shopping plans; air conditioners and air purifiers that connect with smart wristbands and adjust their working modes based on the user's health status; and smart gas stoves that can immediately send an alarm to the user's mobile phone if they forget to turn off the gas when leaving home, or proactively shut off the stove upon command... These products, which sound like they belong in science fiction movies, are becoming a reality in the laboratories, production workshops, and online sales platforms of major Chinese home appliance companies.



　　Recently, Hefei Meiling released a "smart" refrigerator with intelligent cold distribution and intelligent recognition technology. It can not only automatically identify food items and alert users to expiration dates, but also breaks the traditional fixed compartments of refrigerators (refrigeration and freezing), allowing for on-demand temperature adjustment and switching at any time based on user preferences. Prior to this, Meiling had released a new product line based on a smart freshness control technology system, supported by three major technologies: intelligence, frequency conversion, and freshness control, targeting the high-end market.



　　"There's a quote circulating online attributed to Bill Gates: In the future, a house without a smart home system will be as outdated as a house without internet access today. Maybe the technology we find novel now will become extremely common in just a few years!" said Liu Jun, a Hefei resident who recently replaced his refrigerator with a smart one and added a robot vacuum to his home.



　　According to the "2017 China Artificial Intelligence Industry Research Report" released by China Commercial Industry Research Institute, China's AI market size reached 9.661 billion yuan in 2016, with a growth rate of 37.9%. The AI market continues to grow, expected to exceed 13 billion yuan in 2017 and potentially surpass 20 billion yuan in 2018.



　　Smart home is one of the important application areas of artificial intelligence. A report from Suning.com, a well-known home appliance sales platform in China, shows that during this year's National Day Golden Week, sales of home appliances priced above 7,000 yuan increased by over 170%, and most of these high-end products are equipped with AI technology.



　　Industry experts believe that young people like Liu Jun and middle-class families have become the main consumers of home appliances in China. They are willing to pay for smart home appliances with high technological content, and they do not lack purchasing power; what they need are higher-end functions and experiences.



　　"Implementing a new development philosophy and building a modernized economy" became an important part of the 19th National Congress report, and in this section, the first priority is "deepening supply-side structural reform," while also "promoting the deep integration of the internet, big data, artificial intelligence, and the real economy."



　　"With the rapid development of intelligence and the Internet of Things, smart homes are entering a fast track, and the global smartening of home appliances is just 'the first step of a long march.' The road ahead is long, and the market is vast, requiring continuous investment and technological innovation from enterprises," said Jiang Feng, chairman of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, at the recent 2017 China Household Electrical Appliances Technology Conference.



　　Many market consulting firms analyze that the home appliance industry, as "the manufacturing sector closest to consumers," is accelerating along this new path, and the enthusiasm of well-known companies to launch new products is also increasing.



　　Haier recently launched a smart water heater that has evolved from mobile phone control to voice-set temperatures, records and analyzes family members' bathing habits, and can help users develop multiple energy-saving plans based on local tiered electricity pricing policies.



　　Midea has produced a smart rice cooker that can distinguish over 2,000 varieties of rice worldwide and select the best cooking program. Previously, Midea acquired German robot giant KUKA to position itself in the field of artificial intelligence.





　　Changhong's AI TV achieves natural voice interaction and deep learning, especially at the "cognitive" level, enabling human-centered efficient voice interaction coordination and semantic recognition and understanding.



　　Industry insiders believe that artificial intelligence will not only help China's traditional home appliance industry, once renowned worldwide, find new growth points in production and sales, but will also give rise to new business models.



　　Earlier, at the "Artificial Intelligence and Smart Home" roundtable forum hosted by the CCID Research Institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Li Hongyan, Haier's AI director and head of the robotics team, predicted that in the future, AI will enable different home appliances to interconnect through multiple sensors, and combined with big data and cloud computing, establish user profiles for precise information mining and recommendation.



　　"This way, the sale of traditional home appliances can be upgraded into a long-term smart service model," he believes.



　　However, some industry insiders "calmly" point out that AI technology still needs to solve two problems: first, achieving standardization and platform sharing to change the current situation where smart products from different brands may require users to use different operating platforms and download different mobile apps, enabling product interconnection and improving integration; second, developing more smart applications based on user experience to make home appliances more "intelligent and thoughtful."