The Growing Backlash Against Smart Homes and Connected Living

As CES showcases increasingly connected homes with AI voice controls and robotics, this essay captures a growing skepticism about smart home technology. The author highlights practical problems—unreliable motion sensors, security vulnerabilities from networked devices, and the loss of simple agency that comes with traditional switches and locks. This reflects a broader question many consumers are asking: does automation actually improve our lives, or just create new dependencies and risks?