by LAS VEGAS (AP) – CES, the Consumer Technology Association’s annual trade show for all things high-tech, kicks off in Las Vegas this week.
The multi-day event, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, will feature the latest industry advancements and gadgets across personal technology, transportation, healthcare and more – with uses artificial intelligence is growing almost everywhere you look.
The Consumer Technology Association bills CES as the world’s largest in-person inspection technology event. Organizers hope to bring in around 130,000 attendees this year. More than 4,000 exhibitors, including more than 1,200 startups, are also expected across 2.5 million net square feet of exhibit space.
That’s still below the numbers of the pre-pandemic years and would represent a 24% drop in attendance compared to the show held in early 2020, just before COVID-19 consumed much of everyday life. But 2024 is on track to beat the last few years. The projected number would exceed almost 118,000 attendances in 2023, for example.
“People are pumped for this. They’re pumped because it’s post-COVID (and) they’re coming back,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association. “And the support of the CEO around the world has been amazing.”
Big names set to exhibit at CES this year will include tech giants and automakers to leading cosmetics brands – including Amazon, Google, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and L’Oreal. The show will also highlight the Consumer Technology Association’s partnership with the United Nations’ Human Security for All campaign, which recently placed technology as the eighth pillar of human security.
After two days of media previews, CES will take place from Tuesday to Friday. The show is not open to the general public – it is a business-to-business event often used for industry professionals to network and connect.
The Associated Press spoke with Shapiro about CES 2024 and what to expect this week. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
CES 2024 IS HERE. WHAT ARE THE MAIN THEMES OF THIS YEAR’S SERVICE?
The overall theme of the show is, in a way, sustainability. It is green. The human securities of the UN – including those focusing on clean air, clean water, food as well as health care. And the UN just added a new one, which is the technology itself. The show is based on these human securities.
From mobility to healthcare, the exhibiting companies are providing solutions in the post-COVID world. We are also getting older, we are living longer and there are fewer people to look after us. Technology is the answer.
HE IS EVERYWHERE THIS YEAR. HOW MUCH SECURITY OVERSIGHT WILL WE SEE ON THE DEVICES IN THE NEXT DAYS?
AI is like the internet itself. It’s a huge ingredient that will drive so much innovation. The difference is now AI generation, which can learn from what you have done. And you can apply that to so many different aspects of the work we do that will improve our lives – especially in healthcare.
As with any tool from the invention of fire, the government has a very large role to play in ensuring that certain safety barriers are in place. We’ve been working with the US Senate and they’re hearing from all stakeholders about what we need – including a national privacy law. AI is a tool and it can be used for great good, or it can be used for harm. And we want to focus on the good.
AUTOMOBILE ALSO HAS A BIG PRESENCE AT CES. CAN WE EXPECT ANY IMPACT FROM THE RECENT UAW STRIKE?
For a trade event, this is like the biggest car event in the world. We see car companies from all over the world on the floor.
They will be there in different ways, and some choose not to be here for one reason or another. The strike certainly affected some of the Detroit companies, but the rest of the companies around the world are very strong – especially from Europe, Vietnam and Japan.
WE SAW NEXT MONTH’S E3 VIDEO GAME EXPO BITE. WHAT ROLE ARE TRADE SHOWS CURRENTLY PLAYING AND HOW CAN I ENSURE CES ATTENDANCE?
Since COVID-19, trade shows have become more important to business leaders—because they understand and appreciate that relationship building. That face-to-face time is very important. The average person who goes to CES, for example, has 29 different meetings. What is more effective than that?
And then there’s something you can’t find online, that is serendipity. It is a discovery. He’s learning what you don’t know and he’s encouraging. Someone told me on the way here, “I love going to CES because I’m hopeful for the world back. I come back with 50 ideas and it energizes me.” And that is what is so important. I think we have a great future, and innovation is what will drive us. And we will get there by gathering the world’s innovators together.
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Video producer James Brooks contributed to this report.
