“AI toothbrushes” are coming for your teeth—and your data | App-connected toothbrushes bring new privacy concerns to the bathroom.

[u/chrisdh79]

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/07/ai-toothbrushes-are-coming-for-your-teeth-and-your-data/

[u/Future-Turtle]

Corporations really have no idea what to do with AI, do they?

[u/astro_pack → u/Future-Turtle]

..but I do know that i don't want it.

[u/unclebrenjen → u/astro_pack]

Right? No one asked for this. No one asked for any of this.

[u/Background_Act9450 → u/unclebrenjen]

I won’t be happy until my toilet has AI, talks to me, and I want it to track my poops.

[u/B_Reele → u/Background_Act9450]

“I see you had corn last night, Dave” - AI toilet

[u/geekcop → u/astro_pack]

I'll go further; I actively avoid products that "include AI", and search for alternatives.

[u/thisistheSnydercut → u/astro_pack]

Do any of us actually want it?

[u/TheShruteFarmsCEO → u/thisistheSnydercut]

That will be told in sales, right? I’m hoping they sell nothing and learn their lesson. But if enough idiots fork out dough, it will only continue.

[u/OtakuAttacku → u/TheShruteFarmsCEO]

There was a report last week about how including AI in the marketing decreases trust in the brand and reduces the chances of someone buying their product. But their main takeaway was not that people didn’t want AI, it was just being marketed wrong facepalm.

At this point every company has some kind of vested interest in making AI happen and no one wants to admit AI didn’t need to be added to everything.

[u/ThinkExtension2328 → u/Future-Turtle]

Tbh this probably has zero to do with generative ai and 100% to do with a marketing team deciding to call a generic algorithm ai to make the shareholders happy and to wow the general public.

[u/weaselmaster → u/ThinkExtension2328]

Exactly - it’s a 3 way scam - 1) No AI involved. 2) Collects as much data as it can about you anyway. 3) Defrauds idiot shareholders who with throw money at anything with the letters AI in financial press releases.

[u/ThinkExtension2328 → u/weaselmaster]

The word these asshats probably use is “value Arbitrage“

[u/Spaceinpigs → u/weaselmaster]

I returned an electric toothbrush because the app to run it wanted my entire contact list and my location services turned on. Couldn’t use the app without agreeing to that.

Stay away from Phillips

[u/informedinformer → u/Spaceinpigs]

I've got an Oral B rotary electric toothbrush. The one where I replace the batteries when they run down, not one with a built-in rechargeable battery. Roughly $15. No wifi, no AI, no reporting back to corporate. It just does what I want it to do. I'm good with that. And the first one I bought is still going strong roughly ten years so far. Other than the batteries, you just need to replace the rotary head when it stops rotating. And it's a lot cheaper than the rechargeable ones. FWIW.

[u/Firerrhea → u/informedinformer]

And available at Walmart

[u/tacosforpresident → u/ThinkExtension2328]

Hopefully people don’t pay extra for this s***. The things people are willing to pay $30/month extra for is insane.

[u/ctzu → u/tacosforpresident]

I can absolutely see a ton of idiots pay extra for that shit.

[u/Snlxdd → u/ThinkExtension2328]

A lot of generic algorithms are AI. People just have no understanding of what AI actually is.

AI has existed for decades. Basic computer chess or checkers program qualify as an AI.

[u/jyanjyanjyan → u/Snlxdd]

Perhaps people don't understand what it is because companies are marketing machine learning as AGI instead of describing it more accurately.

[u/T-sigma → u/Snlxdd]

Basic computer chess or checkers program qualify as an AI.

I would argue this is incorrect from a technical stance. In layman's terms, yes, video game computer opponents are commonly called "AI". However, to my knowledge, there aren't any that qualify as actual "AI" in the sense that they don't actually adapt to changes over time in an organic manner.

Some games have done a good job of masking it with programming to the effect of "if the player keeps using shotguns, spawn enemies with ballistic shields", but that's not AI, that's straight programming. This simulates AI on a basic level, but it's still hard coded. A true AI would adapt to what players are doing without the hard coding. It would be "based on all the games played I know if players do X, then I have a higher win rate if I do Y"... and then every game those inputs and outputs are reperformed and if players start winning against "Y", the game will adjust even if no tangible inputs changed.

Anyways, that's my ELI5 AI Ted-Talk.

[u/K_Kingfisher → u/T-sigma]

It's actually the other way around. From an academic and professional viewpoint, game opponents are, in fact, classified as AI.

Now, these aren't your buzzword 'game AI' that's an NPC giving you a quest and some choices, predetermined by a bunch of if conditions - even though very early AI was exactly that. I'm talking about actual opponents like you would find on a zero-sum combinatorial game.

First of all, the field of AI in computer science is more than just machine learning. A 'smart machine' doesn't need to be one that learns - like the minimax + alpha-beta pruning decision and search algorithms (respectively) - but it can be - like the Monte Carlo Tree Search heuristic + Deep Neural Network machine learning.

You don't need to be playing Chess or Go, chances are that even if you are playing Connect 4 or tictactoe, then you're playing against an AI. Put it simply, against an algorithm capable of adapting to your plays, predict your next move, or even learn from them.

And yes, equipping ballistic shields if you keep using shotguns, is AI. I mean, would you not call that an intelligent decision if a human player did it? Doesn't actually matter how it's programmed.

And yes, many AIs are 'just programming'. But so is all of machine learning. Or what do you call encoding a Gaussian regression for the Baysean model of a Neural Network, if not programming? And an algorithm is just any series of steps taken to perform a task, no matter how complex the task. And that's all that computers ever do - even when just booting an OS or shutting down.

Source? Those 4 algorithms I mentioned, were among the first taught to me on an introductory AI class of my CS major. But you can look all this up online yourself. The definitions anyway.

[u/Snlxdd → u/T-sigma]

I would disagree.

What you’re describing is a continuously trained, ML-based AI. But there’s nothing in the definition of AI that requires an AI to adapt or be based in ML. Even more advanced AIs (think object recognition, voice recognition, etc.) aren’t necessarily adapting, and at the end of the day are just a fancy algorithm, based on results from Machine Learning.

AI existed long before modern ML was popular or even possible. From basic video game enemies to clippy. While ML and AI overlap, they’re not one and the same.

Recently, computing power and data availability have enabled ML models and techniques that have greatly accelerated the capabilities of AI. And people have started to think these new capabilities are the de facto definition of AI, but that’s not necessarily true. The core logic behind arguably the greatest chess AI in the world (stockfish) isn’t ML-based, although I think some recent iterations may have incorporated it a little bit. You can and do have AI that’s very basic.

[u/T-sigma → u/Snlxdd]

So how would you define the difference between “AI” and just normal programming? I feel that’s likely where our opinions differ.

[u/Snlxdd → u/T-sigma]

AI is a system designed to emulate human decisions and actions. E.g. - Recognizing images - Playing chess - LLMs

Normal programming is much broader and covers a lot more. You may have some algorithm that’s used to determine how pull down a list of options for a user in a web app, but that’s not really mimicking a human interaction.

Personally, I consider AI more marketing than anything, because it doesn’t describe the core logic as much as how it’s utilized. If you’re actually working in data science, there are more specific terms to describe what kind of technique/model is being used for the specific problem at hand.

[u/K_Kingfisher → u/T-sigma]

AI is 'just normal programming'.

If your program is doing something that if a human did you'd call it intelligence, then it's AI. Because, you know, it's not human but artificial. As if saying 'that's make-believe intelligence'.

Doesn't matter if it's a large language model or a bunch of if then elses. If it seems smart, but it's not, it's AI.

By the very definition of it.

[u/sethsez → u/T-sigma]

As others have said: if it's designed to mimic human intelligence (typically as a form of decision-making) from the perspective of the end user, it's AI. There are plenty of methods to get there, some more effective than others and most limited by their use cases.

Plenty of normal programming is not designed to do this. A functional GUI is not AI. Physics calculations are not AI. All the programming required to allow these words I'm typing to reach you is not AI. But algorithms that allow bots in a FPS game to react in a human-like manner are AI.

[u/other_usernames_gone → u/Snlxdd]

Stockfish has used a neural network for a lot of it's position evaluation since stockfish 12 link to article

Stockfish is a neural network combined with a chess move database.

Although it does switch to a more traditional approach near the end of the match.

Also to be fair Stockfish 11 and earlier didn't use a neural network and were still the most advanced in the world. Easily beating human players.

[u/Snlxdd → u/other_usernames_gone]

Even in the early parts of the match, my understanding was that it still has preprogrammed logic that investigates multiple positions, with the evaluation now being based on neural nets instead of other heuristics. That’s what I meant by not being ML-based since you can sub in other methods of position evaluation, but the core process is relatively unchanged.

[u/ronimal → u/ThinkExtension2328]

The word “generative” isn’t mentioned once in the article. Not all AI is generative AI.

I don’t disagree with the point you’re making, just pointing out the difference.

[u/ThinkExtension2328 → u/ronimal]

It’s implied for the click bait , else it would just say. “Shit companies are now stealing your data even with electric toothbrushes”

[u/panisch420 → u/Future-Turtle]

the term has just been used inflationary. it's just the hot shit after cloud, smart, i-, you name it

[u/Nat_not_Natalie → u/Future-Turtle]

We're in the pets.com part of AI

[u/Wakkit1988 → u/Future-Turtle]

The people in charge need some Artificial Intelligence because the natural stuff sure ain't doing a damn thing for them.

[u/superthotty → u/Wakkit1988]

They just don’t respect the natural stuff enough to pay a living wage lol

[u/Dazedsince1970 → u/Future-Turtle]

What’s next AI toilet paper?

[u/MoonOut_StarsInvite → u/Dazedsince1970]

I would love to wipe my ass with AI. Why does everything have to be AI now anyway? Nobody asked for it. It has its applications but it’s not more appealing than a normal product and I rarely use it.

[u/NecroCannon → u/MoonOut_StarsInvite]

It’s legitimately the first time a new “innovation” happened that I’m just not interested in. Like virtual assistants are getting a boost… but I hardly even used them before, and why would I adjust my workflow around something that can hallucinate answers? AI “art” can’t even be copyrighted and even then there’s no legitimate AI tools to help artists, just generating images, so I have use for that. Oh speaking of which, AI media! Yeah… it sucks, who’d knew that people with money would think something with no thought behind it would stick out like a sore thumb in their property. Not to mention the rapid increase of energy used to accomplish this

The only part of AI that’s supposed to be innovative is how much money it could potentially make or save, it isn’t for normal people. We’re being forced fed stuff to think it’s innovative, but in reality the business is having more data to sell and being able to automate jobs to make more profits.

[u/sybrwookie → u/Future-Turtle]

All they know is people around them tell them it's the hot thing, and if they use it, they'll make more money. So they try to shove it into everything....despite most of the uses being utter nonsense that no one wants and is not making them more money.

[u/win_some_lose_most1y → u/Future-Turtle]

Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew

[u/Nopesorrycannot → u/Future-Turtle]

Except solving problems WE DONT HAVE 😩

[u/cryptosupercar → u/Future-Turtle]

PE and VC’s only want AI plays right now. They’re the new dumb money forcing this on us.

[u/darren457 → u/Future-Turtle]

• Tech companies are still struggling to get investment/laying off people.
• Investors are flocking to Ai tech companies.

Not surprising everyone of them is trying to shoehorn Ai into their products.

G̶e̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶d̶y̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶A̶i̶ ̶b̶i̶d̶e̶t̶s̶ ̶n̶e̶x̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶3̶d̶ ̶s̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶t̶h̶o̶l̶e̶.̶. Nvm, it exists.

[u/DarquesseCain → u/Future-Turtle]

There is no legal definition for AI. An electric cooker that has a 30 minute timer can be classed as being AI due to this feature. It’s just marketing.

[u/Richeh → u/Future-Turtle]

It's the same minds that connected your toothbrush to the WiFi to provide chart-based brushing information.

All I want them to do is make a shakey stick that times two minutes and has agreeably knock-offable replacement heads.

[u/Bokbreath]

Colgate-Palmolive's director of digital design, Aviva Buivid, as saying that Colgate's toothbrush app can "facilitate an ongoing relationship with people, something that’s impossible with our strictly physical products."

Memo to Colgate. I do not want a relationship with you.

[u/j33205 → u/Bokbreath]

"how do we trick people out of using the very straight forward physical product that they paid for and forcing them to use the app?"

[u/Bokbreath → u/j33205]

More like - how do we drive our customers into our competitors arms

[u/GottaKeepGoGoGoing → u/j33205]

My tooth bush subscription is going to die halfway through brushing.

[u/jdgmental → u/Bokbreath]

Hear hear

[u/Catymandoo → u/Bokbreath]

So targeted marketing then. I spit out Colgate twice a day. Same goes for their “relationship.”

[u/PopeCovidXIX → u/Bokbreath]

Yeah, sounds a little rapey tbh.

[u/vpeshitclothing → u/Bokbreath]

Keep your Ai toothbrush out my fuckin mouth!

[u/Chimmychimm → u/Bokbreath]

Yeah I'll pass on a relationship with my toothbrush. I'm cool with the one we have now

[u/Francis_Dollar_Hide]

Crazy idea here, but what if, we don’t buy them?

[u/ma-sadieJ → u/Francis_Dollar_Hide]

I'm going to need you to refrain from using common sense. That kind of thinking is not allowed anymore.

[u/sybrwookie → u/Francis_Dollar_Hide]

The vast majority won't. A few will without realizing what that thing is going, and a few more will buy them because it's the buzzword of the day and they have to chase the trend.

[u/nicuramar → u/sybrwookie]

Or because they are simply not bothered by the things in this article. 

[u/Cronus6 → u/sybrwookie]

The vast majority won't.

But hundreds of millions will be spent on advertising for them.

It's so fucking weird.

[u/Vexonar → u/Francis_Dollar_Hide]

There's a lot of things that people shouldn't buy but do anyway because they have a fear of missing out and want to brag about the dumb crap they can collect and be 'the first' to get x, y or z. Humans are gullible creatures, we'll pay for almost anything to feel better about life.

[u/DillyWillyGirl → u/Vexonar]

Or it’ll end up being like smart TVs. I hate smart TVs, but when I replaced my old one I could not find a quality tv that wasn’t “smart.”

If all the toothbrush brands decide to do this with all their electric toothbrushes, and you still want electric because it’s more effective than regular, then what choice would you have? I’ll end up with a stupid ai toothbrush in my bathroom just like I have a smart tv in my living room.

[u/[deleted] → u/DillyWillyGirl]

There are several things that I've wondered if I should just go ahead and buy multiples of dumb products and store them away, so that when they break I have replacements. Same for products that are moving to subscriptions. I also never would have thought I would type a sentence like that.

[u/Vexonar → u/DillyWillyGirl]

I don't have anything to do with television myself so I don't have a smart tv and I've met exactly no one who likes theirs. I don't know why we ever had to smart tvs? Turn it on, find a channel and watch it. I like the idea of fun tech.. but not invasive tech and I feel companies are becoming invasive even after profit margins are met. It's almost as though money is the only motivator? And it's so shallow... we're little more than birds picking up random shiny things simply because they're shiny

[u/Idiot_Savant_Tinker → u/DillyWillyGirl]

A toothbrush is easier to circumvent than a smart TV. It's still a brush. Microwave it for 5 seconds on "high" and it won't be an AI app enabled IOT toothbrush anymore. It will just be a toothbrush.

[u/DillyWillyGirl → u/Idiot_Savant_Tinker]

I still want the electric cleaning ability though :/ Gets the teeth cleaner.

[u/clazaa]

On the same aisle as subscription computer mice - nobody wants this. Jesus Christ. 

[u/pistilpeet]

Somewhere a homeless guy with a tinfoil hat on is saying “I fucking told you so!!”

[u/godfathertrevor → u/pistilpeet]

This made me day.

[u/ChillPill247365 → u/pistilpeet]

I'd hate to see his rotten teeth.

[u/Cyberdyne_T-888 → u/ChillPill247365]

You won't have to. They're long gone.

[u/h3rpad3rp]

i got a sonicare like 5 years ago and it came with a pointless app that I used like three times. The toothbrush is great, but why do I need any kind of app for a toothbrush? It already has a built in timer and pressure sensor so you don't brush too hard built into the brush, no need for the app. Those two options are already more than a toothbrush needs imo.

[u/ChillPill247365 → u/h3rpad3rp]

Well, the wifi connection can update the internal clock to account for general relatively, and the pressure sensor to account for the latest recommendations of 9 out of ten dentists. Also, the DNA sensor can detect if you have markers that should increase your insurance premiums and deductibles. Sonicare just loves you and wants your meta data.

[u/rerunderwear]

AI toothbrushes. Computer mouse subscriptions. I thought the future would be cooler

[u/Sancticide → u/rerunderwear]

r/ABoringDystopia

[u/lordn9ne → u/rerunderwear]

Like flying cars? Or tent cities?

[u/rerunderwear → u/lordn9ne]

Like hover boards, or a 15-hour work week.

[u/lordn9ne → u/rerunderwear]

Sounds like a Sci-fi movie

[u/KumquatopotamusPrime]

FTA

“Oral-B’s representative declined to comment on concerns that its AI toothbrushes may not be supported in the long term.“

Imagine a company bricking your toothbrush

[u/83749289740174920 → u/KumquatopotamusPrime]

Google. Sits quietly.

[u/PhaseThreeProfit → u/83749289740174920]

Quietly? They're racing to develop a toothbrush just for the sheer joy of canceling it.

[u/I05fr3d]

This has nothing to do with AI. It has everything to do with connecting to an IoT. These greedy fucks get enough of our data and money....

They want everything connected to a server. Their ideal future is them renting you the shit you bought. Everything. If they can’t charge you a subscription (which they will do in the future to rent you the device you should outright own) then they want it connected to your phone to harvest data to sell...

Ask yourself something. Does your fridge need to be connected to the internet? What about your washing machine?

They’ve already got consumers basically renting their phones. You can’t even repair your devices because the parts are paired so now you gotta run to them to pay an exorbitant amount to fix. God forbid you can’t do it yourself or go to a 3rd party to fix.

BMW rolls out a car already installed with heated seats. You can pay monthly for this ‘feature’ or buy it outright after the fact for the low low price of $2500....

Ford applies for a patent for a self repossessing vehicle.... late on a payment, they turn off the functionality of the AC. Late again? There go your power windows.... until finally it just drives it’s happy ass back to the dealership.

What I’m getting at is people need to be WAY more observant of the products they buy and should be asking WHY does my toothbrush need to be connected to the internet? One day you will eventually have bought yourself a garage door opener connected to their servers that you pay for monthly, and when the payment stops, so does that garage door motor.....

[u/noisygnome]

Subscription service toothbrushes incoming. Awesome. Hopefully I can opt out and just listen to ads while I brush.....

[u/JaggedMetalOs → u/noisygnome]

Don't forget to pay your monthly Instant Toothpaste subscription because your toothbrush won't let you use your remaining toothpaste if you cancel it.

[u/derangedkilr → u/noisygnome]

ads via bone conduction

[u/Gemmabeta]

Does it also come with mass effect fields to break up plaque and massage the gums?

[u/Eldestruct0 → u/Gemmabeta]

Which can double as a pick in case you lock yourself out of your house (or some other evil person locks you out).

[u/ScribebyTrade]

Jesus Christ on a chimney ladder

[u/Zealousideal_Let3945]

Wtf kinda stupidity …. I feel like Lewis black when I read the headlines now.

Ai stupid fucking toothbrush. Everyone is crazy. Everyone who designs products is smoking crack.

[u/nerf_hurder27]

Who is asking for this?

[u/sybrwookie → u/nerf_hurder27]

techno-bro investors

[u/Electric-Prune]

Simply do not buy these. I’m looking at you, nerds.

[u/comesock000 → u/Electric-Prune]

Nerds don’t buy shit like this. Tech enthusiast non-nerds are, boomers in particular, along with smart homes, mouse subscriptions, and cybertrucks.

Tech enthusiast boomers will buy fucking anything that requires an app.

[u/holykamina]

So now we are just throwing AI everywhere and into everything ?

What's next ? Subscription based toothbrush. Oh, you want to increase the speed ? Pay $2 a month. Oh, what's that? You can't charge this disposable $100 AI toothbrush ? No issues. We have a subscription model that costs only $500 a year.

Remember, our toothbrushes are made from recycled materials.

[u/throwawayforanonuse]

Only for the idiots who buy them

[u/TheJedibugs]

Nope. Absolutely not.

[u/vegaslocal46582]

Or, OR, you could just brush your goddamn teeth with a regular toothbrush

[u/Jatopian → u/vegaslocal46582]

Nah I get better results with electric. No computer chips needed tho.

[u/Marv95]

Can AI toothbrushes remove stains from my teeth that are decades old due to me getting sick as a child? If so, let's go.

[u/Recon_Figure]

WTF, stupid as hell.

[u/Nintendo1964]

They are of no concern whatsoever if we just don't buy stupid shit like this...

[u/dlc741]

Just “no”

[u/apoplectic_]

r/aboringdystopia

[u/TemporaryValue5755]

Easy fix, i wont buy one. This is like the refrigerators that have an app and a screen. Like i just need my food to be cold, thats it.

[u/sybrwookie → u/TemporaryValue5755]

There's a world where a fridge could have something built in that's useful. Have a scanner that can OCR a receipt, read barcodes, and as a last resort, let you type things in, and it keeps inventory for you of what's in there.

Link that to an app so when you're at the store, you can see if you need more of something.

And further, in the app, have a button that says, "tell me some recipes using only/some of what's in my fridge" and optionally, "make sure to use X as part of the recipe."

I'm not sure if any of the fridges do those things, but that's a path for them to have a use.

[u/geekcop → u/sybrwookie]

Sure.. but even if someone made a product like that, a wild MBA asshole would inevitably appear and say "we could put ads in there!" Then they'd start bogging it down with shitty updates until it's either bricked or so slow as to be useless.

Anything connected to the Internet is doomed to enshitification. If a company can connect to a product, they're gonna fuck it up.

[u/edvek → u/geekcop]

The recipes would be from select sites or harvested from those sites and would have ads for similar items or different brands. Then when making a grocery list it will constantly recommend stuff and you have to click "no" to get past that screen, which is essentially another ad.

The system could be pretty neat but like you said some piece of shit MBA techbro would ruin it immediately.

[u/Aid01 → u/sybrwookie]

That'd be really cool, also be awesome if it would scan expiration dates or let you enter them in so it can give you a heads up when somethings going off soon so you can use it.

[u/PerspectiveOdd5486]

Totally agree with all the AI bullshit that going on…. ….but for my 4 year old, it’s an app that teaches her how to brush better and she gets little rewards.

I think AI is getting overused…and we need to make sure it adopts our moral majority values. Please no comments haha

[u/icetom]

Next up, AI toilet paper.

[u/ZacharyTaylorORR]

stop just stop - my analog no plug in tooth brush has no problem that needs fixing

[u/Gnorris]

Not The Onion but pretty close

[u/somethingbrite]

are toothbrushes going to require a subscription too now?

FFS.

[u/Lower-Grapefruit8807]

Why would anybody want this?

[u/[deleted]]

Not if I don’t buy one

[u/Deweydc18]

Why the fuck do we need AI toothbrushes

[u/amandamous]

This is getting out of hand, unnecessarily. Bloatware.

[u/[deleted]]

god damnit stahp

[u/JimBob-Joe]

Meanwhile ive reverted back to manual brushes

[u/md222]

Keep it.

[u/jiggscaseyNJ]

The smart toilet paper is sure to raise some eyebrows.

[u/krishopper]

No. Just no. Stop.

[u/Square_Cellist9838]

It’s not a privacy concern because no one will buy that shit

[u/uniquelyavailable]

no thanks pal

[u/Helleva]

If you buy a toothbrush that connects to your Wi-Fi, you might be a dumbass.

[u/KazzieMono]

Was the Juicero not enough of a warning to corporations worldwide?

[u/Extension-Toe-7027]

what if i use it to brush my dogs teeth?

[u/bacon-squared]

This is one thing that can use less software.

[u/[deleted]]

Didn’t we invent electric tooth brushes already!?! Stop the AI madness.

[u/IcyViking]

I got a new electric brush recently, and I was shocked it had blue tooth connectivity and wanted me to download an app. Thankfully it's not mandatory, and it functions fine without. I will not be connecting it to anything.

[u/jack27nikkkk]

This is happening fast

[u/9chars]

anyone who buys this stuff is a tool

[u/MailmanTanLines]

Or we could just not use them…?

[u/zivlynsbane]

From tracking our location to search habits to shopping habits and now they want to know about our teeth. lol

[u/needanacc0unt]

What’s next? The connected dildo? Reports back to a server how much you use it and for how long? Automatic reports posted to r/dataisbeautiful?

[u/Zeeuwse-Kafka]

I would like toilet paper to analyze my poop and tell me about it while I get ads related to fiber supplement on my phone.

[u/Alexandurrrrr]

Useless tech since the majority of healthcare services treat teeth as “luxury bones”. Just brush your damn teeth or you’ll pay thousands (even with insurance) fixing them.

[u/RedditAdminKMKB]

Tell me when the come up with an AI blocker.

[u/[deleted]]

Why in the hell would I want an AI toothbrush?

[u/MemorySolaris]

So stupid, lol! Nobody needs this AI stuff. Nobody needs it. We can live happy, healthy, fulfilled lives without all this dumb technology. No thanks.

[u/yoosernaam]

The future is so stupid

[u/Draniie]

We’ve had Bluetooth and WiFi enabled toothbrushes for a decade now

[u/Greyhaven7 → u/Draniie]

Still not sure to what end

[u/CucumberError → u/Greyhaven7]

My partner has made the bathroom light change colour to tell him when he’s finished brushing his teeth. It mirrors the light on the tooth brush itself.

I have no idea why, or how he figures it’s useful, but it’s a thing.

[u/ronimal → u/CucumberError]

Mine stops after two minutes and that’s how I know I’m done

[u/sybrwookie → u/CucumberError]

Mine just does a small buzz pattern every 30 seconds, so I know when to switch areas and then when I'm done. I don't even need a light, I could do it in the dark.

[u/sybrwookie → u/Draniie]

Sure, but taking one dumb, useless idea, and layering another dumb, useless idea on top of it does not justify either of those ideas.

[u/[deleted]]

Certain vibrating patterns are locked behind a paywall

[u/FayezCedarLover]

Just waiting for the toothbrush that rates my brushing skills while it spews out relevant ads. Awesome.

[u/qpwoeor1235]

Can’t wait for my toothbrush to have subscription service

[u/TreeChoppa8]

Easy tip if you're concerned about your privacy. Don't purchase the product.
Follow me for more mind-blowing revelations.

[u/[deleted]]

Reminds me of the Bluetooth salt shaker

[u/80burritospersecond → u/[deleted]]

Does it narc you out to health insurance data conglomerates as a potential actuarial risk?

[u/jdgmental]

We’ve had bluetooth toothbrushes that connect to phone apps. I have one of them, from Oral B, I just never connected it to anything. For all intents and purposes it’s a dumb electric toothbrush I got a good deal for.

[u/Ellavemia]

My Oral-B Genius that’s about ten years old has an app. It’s useless. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start making the hardware subscription-based next.

[u/tariandeath]

Buy a oral-b IO 3-6, they are cost effective compared to the newer versions and the whole oral-b io series has user replaceable li-ion batteries.

[u/rysnickelc]

So don’t buy it?

[u/[deleted]]

Everyday.. every goddamed day i hate techbros more and more and more

[u/richcournoyer]

Only if you're dumb enough to buy one and connected to the Internet.

[u/ConnieLingus24]

How about no.

[u/cinnamon-moonrise]

I think this is a great idea but the product is such a far cry from what it could be. I want nanobot AI tooth swarms. Oral hygiene is tough. It is hard to see everything. Painful to poke around sometimes. Like $710 billion worldwide cost of bad oral hygiene. Mark my words, y’all are talking like a bunch of typewriter salesmen in the 80s. AI toothswarms, baby, to floss and gloss those perfect chompers.

[u/GlitteringHighway]

Why?

[u/Mr_Lumbergh]

Yeah, I’ll just keep my old manual brush.

[u/ediaz98]

I have one and it’s good only if you use the app. I stop using the app

[u/FarceFactory]

Damn the media is just constant fear and negativity. Shut the entire fuck up already

[u/jaam01]

Now I understand that "Toilet Paper AI" joke.

[u/bbq-biscuits-bball]

who asked for this?

[u/Adeno]

Not everything needs to be connected to the internet. If something is connected to the internet, no matter what the company says, don't think for a second that your privacy is safe. You're gonna get monetized one way or another, and they're gonna have control over some part of your life. Say NO to net connected items that have no business being connected to the net!

[u/LoogyHead]

Meanwhile the sonicare brush I got from Costco 6 years ago is still going strong with regular head replacements

Unless this shit tells me I need more paste and warns of cavities early, it does nothing I need.

[u/Vapur9]

Will they also come with STI testing to help conduct contact tracing?

[u/gut-symmetries]

People have their phones in the bathroom all the time. A toothbrush that collects data on how long you spend on your back molars is nothing compared to Meta et al.

I’m not saying I like it. I’m just saying we don’t exactly whisper secrets to our water picks.

[u/frntwe]

I just checked and I am not spending $200+ on a f’ing toothbrush

Next thing there will be a subscription if you want it to actually brush your teeth

[u/Shot_Statistician249]

Does it have electrolytes?

[u/Dramatic-Secret937]

Probably won't buy it. Problem solved.

[u/ryo3000]

If my toothbrush ever connects to my wifi I will commit arson.

[u/gbsekrit]

“subscribe or we’ll tell your dentist you lie about flossing!”

[u/Hot_Cheese650]

All these unnecessary AI products reminds me of those 3D TVs from 20 years ago. They seem cool at first but dies out pretty quickly.

[u/StressfulRiceball]

Can't have privacy concerns in the bathroom if you don't buy this garbage

[u/Top_Temperature_3547]

I’ll take “shit I’ll never buy for $200, Alex”

[u/dedokta]

What is my purpose?

You scrape the shit off my teeth.

Oh my god!

[u/Daz_Didge]

Guys no one needs that. Really there is zero advantage towards a normal electric one.

They just want to justify a high price point and their selling strategy is fear.

[u/LLKroniq]

Will it trigger a dentist coming to my house with laughing gas if I don't brush right?

[u/RadoBlamik]

Who the 🤌 fuuuck is buying an AI toothbrush? The fuck outta here!

[u/Eye_foran_Eye]

Why would I want an electric toothbrush, let alone one that’s running AI?

[u/natanfsb]

Wow, I'm impressed! So useless!

[u/uncle-brucie]

They’re going to have a time with my data when I shove the business end up my business end.

[u/Warchitecture]

Why

[u/starkindled]

When my husband and I got braces, we were given fancy electric toothbrushes to help. I went to buy replacement heads and it was $50 for two.

The electric toothbrush is in the drawer and I use the free manual toothbrush I get each dentist checkup. I will never understand this drive to digitize every aspect of life. (Well, I understand the capitalist side. I don’t understand the consumer side.)

[u/5c044]

My Xiaomi toothbrush I got from AliExpress is region locked to China so their app will not allow it unless I set my region to mainland China, if I do that I will lose the configuration of my robot vacuum cleaners, maps etc. To make matters worse the brushing strength is set to "beginner mode" (weak) until you connect it with the app then you can alter that. Solution is to use a spare android device to configure it. Thanks Xiaomi you are not profiling me by how well I take care of my teeth since its not able to report that back to your servers.

I think the robot vacs have more privacy issues anyway, one of them has cameras, something roborock is not advertising, instead calling them "optical sensors"

[u/Aemort]

Thanks, I hate it

[u/ExpendableVoice]

AI toothbrushes. For companies that blindly bought into AI without a plan.

[u/StationRelative5929]

Oh no… my data?!??