November 21, 2024

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LG Electronics' home appliance business chief, Lyu Jae-cheol, speaks during a press conference held on the sidelines of the IFA trade show in Berlin on Thursday. (LG Electronics)

BERLIN -- LG Electronics has announced a brand new era for the company by introducing its artificial intelligence home hub, featuring what it calls "affectionate intelligence," at this year’s IFA trade show that kicked off Friday in Berlin.

“We are thrilled to announce the launch of LG AI Home, a smart living solution that utilizes generative AI to seamlessly communicate and connect with customers,” Lyu Jae-cheol, the tech giant's home appliance chief, said Thursday during a press conference.

“The AI Home envisioned by LG Electronics is founded on a people-centered appeal and deep empathy and LG AI Home represents an evolution of home appliance solutions that understand and adapt to each customer," he said.

LG accelerates realizing the “zero-labor home” vision, where ThinQ On continuously learns from usage patterns to tailor customers' daily experiences. It looks to begin the ThinQ On-centric AI home service this year.

The ThinQ On allows users to control their AI appliances and living spaces with spoken commands or requests delivered in a natural, conversational manner due to the company’s AI tool, Furon, which the AI home hub is equipped with, acting as a brain. It can also understand the context of conversations and determine user preferences for each connected appliance, IoT device and service; bringing a new level of care to the home.

Any home appliance that connects to Wi-Fi, even without AI functionality, can be upgraded to an AI appliance by integrating it with ThinQ On. All it requires is a sensor that connects with ThinQ On, according to LG.

When asked about choosing ThinQ On over generating more sales by selling more new home appliances, Lyu said, “In terms of short-term profit, selling new products may seem better, but considering the reliability of LG appliances, we believe ThinQ On was the better choice.”

“A future will come where it becomes common sense that upgrading software is more important than hardware as well,” he added.

LG's AI home hub further enables users to manage their entire smart home ecosystem from one place, both now and in the future. To further enhance the connectivity of the ThinQ ON, LG acquired Athom, a smart home platform based in the Netherlands, as part of its effort to strengthen connectivity for its open smart home, in July.

The AI home market is growing rapidly globally. According to market research firm Statista, the number of households adopting connectable smart devices increased from 190 million in 2019 to 360 million in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 17 percent.

Another market research firm, TechNavio, estimates that the global smart home market will grow at an average annual rate of 26.23 percent, from $81.28 billion in 2023 to $260.235 billion by 2028.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)