LG wants robots to take over, but it needs them to work first

If LG has its way, the company's robots will soon be serving you breakfast, carrying your luggage, and cleaning your floors. Well, assuming they can overcome some pretty basic problems like not working, that is.

The promise of a connected-robot future was made repeatedly Monday morning at CES in Las Vegas, with LG's vice president of US marketing, David VanderWaal, taking the stage to show off a line of AI-powered robots that are intended to both integrate with a smart home and work in commercial settings.

Unfortunately for all The Jetsons fanboys out there, the biggest impression was made by what was left unsaid.

VanderWaal first introduced CLOi, a small robot designed for the home, with an attempt at humanization. "CLOi is capable of physical and emotional interaction," he told those gathered. "She's so cute. Talk about innovation that makes you smile."

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

CLOi, for its part, must have not taken kindly to the objectification, because from that point on things clearly did not go as planned.

"CLOi, am I ready on my washing cycle," asked VanderWaal. He was met with silence. "Even robots have bad days," he then quipped to genial laughs around the room.

But the robot wasn't done with its boycott of one. VanderWaal continued to pepper it with questions, as was clearly part of his planned presentation, only to continue to be ignored.

"CLOi, what's for dinner tonight?" No response. "CLOi is not going to talk to me," he observed. "CLOi doesn't like me evidently."

But still, ever the VP of marketing, VanderWaal kept trying. "CLOi are you talking to me yet?" Silence. "What recipes could I make with chicken?" Nothing.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Which, yeah, not a good look. It's hard to convince a crowd of tech journalists and industry analysts that your AI-connected fleet of worker bots is ready for primetime when the featured unit can't even respond to expected voice commands.

CES is known to overflow with hype, and all too often big promises are made and then never delivered on. What isn't so common, however, is for that cycle to come to completion during a press launch event.

I guess LG figured out how to innovate, after all.