Las Vegas (United States) (AFP)

The annual electronics show that opens Tuesday in Las Vegas illustrates the gap between concerns over controversial uses of technology and consumer appetite for the latest news.

From January 7 to 10, some 175,000 visitors will walk the aisles of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and marvel at the latest connected robots, screens and vibrators.

Far from the scandals over personal data collected all the time, and despite trade tensions with China, the sector is doing well.

IDC estimates that more than 800 million connected home appliances (speakers, cameras, locks, bells, etc.) are sold worldwide in 2019, 23% more than in 2018. This figure should increase to 1.39 billion in 2023.

All these objects are regularly accused of spying on their owners without their knowledge, but they will be popular again this year at CES, with ever more connections between them and artificial intelligence (AI).

"It is very fashionable to complain about technology," wrote American author Rob Walker in the New York Times in September. "Our devices distract us, social networks poison public debate, new trendy objects violate our right to privacy (...) but in reality we love our gadgets more than ever. There is no return from flames against tech. "

- All beautiful all new -

The high tech mass will present objects with a high content of artificial intelligence for the home, cars, health, town planning ... Many incorporate voice assistants from the giants Amazon, Google and others.

The contours of 5G and the mobility of tomorrow will emerge during the conferences of operators, chip manufacturers and car manufacturers.

In the past two years, however, associations have raised the alarm over the exploitation of data by social networks, brands, governments and hackers.

American and European regulators have imposed heavy fines. Some politicians call for the dismantling of dominant platforms. And the United States is engaged in a trade war against its economic and technological rival, China, which rubs off on world trade.

But "People always want to discover brand new, beautiful objects," said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint technologies Associates. "I think consumers are adapting to the world and adopting the technologies that suit them."

- Emotions and prejudices -

To better anticipate our desires, machine learning will ramp up. They already know how to recognize our voices and our faces, they will soon reveal our emotions there.

Knowledge of emotional data "has reached a sufficient level" for companies to use it for marketing, market research or political polls, says Accenture.

The companion robots will thus be able to show more empathy towards the elderly, and a vehicle will undoubtedly be able to react to signs of fatigue or impaired driving.

But "reading emotions is a special business," notes an Accenture report. "Users are going to worry about potential privacy issues, security breaches, manipulation and prejudice."

It is up to companies to find the right balance. "Between what consumers say and what they do there is often a world," said Tuong Nguyen, analyst at Gartner. "We have to reassure them on privacy and security issues while designing interesting and useful objects."

- What's going on in Vegas ... -

The CES is being held this year against the backdrop of commercial and political tensions between China and the United States.

The Chinese delegation will still be the largest outside the United States, with hundreds of exhibitors, including Huawei, the telecommunications giant blacklisted by Washington, who suspects it of industrial espionage and considers it a threat. for national security.

"Chinese companies occupy a little less space than last year, but all the main exhibitors are there," said Sarah Brown of the Consumer Technology Association, which organizes the CES.

The show allows Chinese champions to show their ability to compete with Silicon Valley.

"Chinese companies are very aggressive," said Simon Bryant of Futuresource Consulting. "Their domestic market is saturated, so they need to export, but not necessarily to the United States."

The 4,500 expected exhibitors share the same objective. Unlike party goers, they hope that what happens in Vegas will not stay in Vegas.

© 2020 AFP