Is a pricey AI fridge worth it? One woman's rant about hers is going viral.
Is a pricey AI fridge worth it? One woman's rant about hers is going viral.
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Woman's AI fridge rant goes viral, claims isn't intelligent after all
A woman claims her Samsung refrigerator with AI technology isn't so intelligent after all.
Last year when April Matta was looking for a new refrigerator, a line of appliances that boasted innovative features using artificial intelligence caught her eye.
The mother of three thought the Samsung Bespoke Kitchen appliances could help her family stay better organized with functions like a digital calendar and grocery tracking, she told USA TODAY.
But now that she owns the Bespoke fridge, Matta said the technology hasn't been exactly what she expected — and her experience is going viral on TikTok.
"I wasted my money so you don't have to," she says in the clip.
On the other hand, Samsung stands by the product, saying that with proper use and care, the features are effective.
Home tips: Is there a 'right' way to load the dishwasher? What the fight teaches us
Smart fridge confuses husband's head for an avocado
Matta shared her experience to TikTok, where her video of the fridge has been viewed over 200,000 times as of June 10.
In the video, she said the fridge's main AI feature, which is intended to track grocery items as they are placed inside, hasn't worked as she had hoped — for example, thinking her husband's head is an avocado and a bottle of ketchup is meat.
She also said in the video that she hasn't been satisfied with the freezer's ice tray — she says it lacks a sensor to stop making ice — and the outside of the fridge has showed fingerprints and smudging. However, there are a few features Matta likes, including the fridge door's automatic opening function and its connection to her doorbell camera.
Matta told USA TODAY that she decided to share the video to debunk the "fancy bells and whistles" that come with the appliance.
"Even something as stupid as a fridge, it's not always all it's cracked up to be," she said. "The simple things in life are probably a little bit better."
Samsung defends fridge, says AI software update is coming
In an emailed statement to USA TODAY in response to Matta's video, Samsung said the grocery tracker, which is called AI Vision Inside, "uses an internal camera to recognize 33 fresh foods as they're placed in the refrigerator."
"The owner's manual shares guidance on where to properly hold an item and the importance of waiting for a recognition beep, in order to best utilize this feature and make home cooking more seamless," the statement said in part.
The statement said the company introduced the AI technology in 2024. A software update, which will be available later this year, will expands the recognition to 37 food items, according to the statement.
Customers also have the choice to turn off the AI Vision Inside feature at any time, the statement said.
As for some other features mentioned in Matta's video, Samsung said "customers always have the option to pause ice production using the fridge controls, or with the SmartThings app." The statement also noted that the fridge's stainless steel is fingerprint-resistant, but "can be easily cleaned using a clean, damp cloth."
On Samsung's website, the fridge has an overall customer rating of 4.1/5. One customer said it was "the best purchase I have made in a long time."
What is an AI refrigerator? How much does it cost?
Samsung's Bespoke line, which includes kitchen and laundry appliances, are intended to simplify daily tasks using AI, according to the company's website.
According to Samsung's website, the fridge retails for around $5,000 before any discounts are applied. Matta said she paid about $2,500 for hers.
The refrigerator has a built in touchscreen called the "Family Hub," which encompasses a lot of the machine's technology. For example, it has access to apps like YouTube and Ring and can play movies or TV shows, according to Samsung.
There is also a SmartThings app available to download on smartphone for remote access to the fridge.
Other so-called smart fridges on the market include products from GE and LG that similarly offer WiFi or linked apps to control the appliances — each retail for around $4,000.
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Entrepreneur
an hour ago
- Entrepreneur
Using AI in Customer Service? Don't Make These 4 Mistakes
AI is revolutionizing customer service in 2025, offering speed, personalization and efficiency. But to avoid frustrating users, businesses must ensure the following things. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. AI is omnipresent in 2025 in all areas of the business sphere, including customer service. And for good reason. Used right, AI can provide invaluable insights into your customers' behaviors and preferences, boost the efficiency of your customer service team and increase overall satisfaction. Between dynamic personalization, streamlined purchase processes and predictive customer support, many small businesses are leveraging AI to level the playing field and provide enterprise-grade customer service. However, despite AI's massive potential, there are several potential pitfalls when using AI in customer service. At worst, AI can scare off customers or generate frustration, rather than helping to streamline processes. Here are the four most common mistakes — and how to avoid them. Related: How Small Businesses Can Leverage AI Without Breaking the Bank 1. Frustrating generic chatbots To start with, chatbots can be a great asset to your team members and customers alike. They can speedily handle routine queries, free up your agents' capacities, respond to customers even outside regular business hours and reduce wait times. However, to be effective, chatbots need to be well-trained and personalized. Unfortunately, many companies — in a rush to stay ahead in the AI race — deployed chatbots that ask too many questions, give generic answers and fail to solve queries. In one hilarious example, NYC's MyCity chatbot kept giving wrong answers even six months post-deployment and after $600,000 in investments, misinforming users about legal requirements for business owners and even basic facts such as the minimum wage. Overall, 80% of people reported that interactions with chatbots have increased their frustration rather than leading to quicker solutions to the issues they were facing. To avoid this, it's crucial that chatbots are trained well on company-internal data. Ideally, they should be able to leverage customer-specific data across a number of different channels in order to provide personalized, efficient support to every person who reaches out. 2. Unaccessible siloed data On that note, another common pitfall to avoid when implementing AI in customer service is data siloing. One of AI's greatest strengths is its capacity to process huge amounts of data and unearth patterns and trends, condensed into actionable insights. These insights can then be leveraged for personalization and targeted strategy adjustments. However, that's only possible if AI actually has access to all the necessary data elements — and that is a challenge many small businesses are currently facing. In fact, a recent study by Nextiva, a market leader in customer experience software solutions, found that among company leadership, data siloing was identified as one of the most common barriers to AI implementation. In the study, 39% of respondents agreed that they "struggled with accessibility, aggregation, integration and structure of real-time and historical data." To avoid this limitation, it's essential to audit data storage and integration as soon as you start planning your AI implementation strategy. Making sure from the start that the systems you are considering integrate well — or that bridge solutions are at least available — will avoid unnecessary siloing and frustration down the line. Related: AI Can Give You New Insights About Your Customers for Cheap. Here's How to Make It Work for You. 3. Going overboard on hyper-personalization and automation On the other end of the spectrum are businesses that go overboard in their enthusiasm for AI, to a degree that can appear off-putting to many customers. This includes hyper-personalization and automation processes. While personalization is a key advantage of AI and can boost the efficiency of customer service agents and the satisfaction of the people they interact with, you don't want to appear omniscient either. Having the impression that a company knows everything about them before they even talk to you is seen as acutely creepy by many customers. Salesbots, in particular, often trigger the uncanny valley effect, or scare off potential customers by leveraging information they don't feel they ought to have access to. To steer clear of this particular pitfall, it's essential to carefully calibrate the level of personalisation you implement and weigh its potential benefits in boosting conversions against customers' perception of intrusiveness. 4. Forgetting human escalation options Finally, a widespread mistake small businesses make in leveraging AI for customer service is to neglect human escalation options, especially in customer support. No matter what your AI can do, it's always necessary to offer customers the option to talk to a human agent instead. There is nothing more frustrating for a customer facing an urgent problem than being stuck in an ineffective conversation loop with a chatbot or a virtual phone agent when an actual person would clearly help them reach a solution far more efficiently. Outside business hours, when AI is the only one holding down the fort, it's often enough to offer customers the option to leave a message and assure them you will contact them as soon as possible. Other than that, though, you need to give people the option of a human lifeline to help put out an urgent fire. Related: Does AI Deserve All the Hype? Here's How You Can Actually Use AI in Your Business Conclusion In 2025, AI is an incredible asset that small businesses can leverage to elevate their customer service. It is, however, not a panacea. To effectively harness the potential of AI and avoid common pitfalls, it's necessary to carefully plan and train the systems you're deploying, exercise discretion with respect to personalization and implement a human failsafe option. By sticking to these tenets, though, you'll be able to make the most of the opportunities AI has to offer for small businesses in customer service and increase your overall customer satisfaction.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
AI chatbots and TikTok reshape how young people get their daily news
Artificial intelligence is changing the way people get their news, with more readers turning to chatbots like ChatGPT to stay up to date. At the same time, nearly half of young adults now rely on platforms such as TikTok as their main source of news. The findings come from the Reuters Institute's annual Digital News Report, released this week. The Oxford University-affiliated study surveyed nearly 97,000 people across 48 countries to track how global news habits are shifting. The study found that a notable number of people are using AI chatbots to read headlines and get news updates – a shift described by the institute's director Mitali Mukherjee as a 'new chapter' in the way audiences consume information. While only 7 percent overall say they use AI chatbots to find news, that number rises among younger audiences – 12 percent of under-35s and 15 percent of under-25s now rely on tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini or Meta's Llama for their news. 'Personalised, bite-sized and quick – that's how younger audiences want their news, and AI tools are stepping in to deliver exactly that,' Mukherjee noted. Beyond reading headlines, many readers are turning to AI for more complex tasks: 27 percent use it to summarise news articles, 24 percent for translations, and 21 percent for recommendations on what to read next. Nearly one in five have quizzed AI directly about current events. (with newswires) Read more on RFI EnglishRead also:AI steals spotlight from Nobel winners who highlight Its power and risksAI showcase pays off for France, but US tech scepticism endures'By humans, for humans': French dubbing industry speaks out against AI threat
Entrepreneur
an hour ago
- Entrepreneur
Build a Career Safety Net That Runs Itself with This $39 Tool
Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you'll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. If you're running a business, leading a team, or wearing multiple hats as a founder, you already know time is your most valuable asset. So when it comes to hiring—or even pivoting into a new opportunity—LoopCV offers the automation edge you didn't know you needed. Right now, you can secure lifetime access to LoopCV Premium for just $39 (regularly $599). LoopCV is an AI-powered job automation tool that is designed to take the exhausting manual grind out of the job search. Whether you're a business owner looking for fractional work, a founder exploring consulting gigs, or a team leader who is coaching laid-off employees, LoopCV can handle the repetitive outreach for you. Upload your résumé, define your ideal roles and target locations, and LoopCV will automatically apply to jobs daily, send personalized emails to recruiters, and track your results with real-time performance data. You can even A/B test different résumés to see what resonates best in your industry. And it's not just for job seekers. Small-business owners and startup founders can also use LoopCV to scout freelance talent, build partnerships, or explore new verticals—all without committing hours to job boards. Need a project-based marketing consultant or a part-time developer? Set up a loop targeting those roles, and let LoopCV surface the candidates or opportunities. For entrepreneurs, this tool can help you generate project leads, land speaking opportunities, or even explore strategic hires with minimal lift. It integrates with over 30 job boards, including LinkedIn, Indeed, and USAJobs, so you're always in the loop. Time is money. Let LoopCV hustle for you in the background while you stay focused on growing your business. Get lifetime access to LoopCV Premium while it's on sale for just $39 (regularly $599) for a limited time. LoopCV Premium Plan: Lifetime Subscription See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.
