My smart fridge tried to order 12 gallons of milk because it thought I was depressed

So this new fridge has a 'wellness sensor' that tracks food removal patterns. After I had a quiet weekend and didn't open the veggie drawer much, it sent a notification to my phone suggesting I might be 'nutritionally deficient' and offered to auto-order a 'comfort bundle' from its partner store. The choice was letting it make this weird assumption or turning off the health tracking completely, which also disables the expiry alerts I actually need. I turned it off, but now I have to manually check dates on everything. Has anyone found a good middle ground with these overly helpful home gadgets?

3 comments

3 Comments

morgan_ramirez1mo ago

Patricia's article nailed it with "solutionism". My fridge's water filter alert now texts me weekly, which feels like a sales tactic disguised as care. We're paying extra for gadgets that invent needs just to solve them.

dakota_nelson431mo ago

Totally agree about the "sales tactic disguised as care" thing. My smart thermostat started sending alerts about "unusual humidity" that just happen to link to their own overpriced air purifier. It's exhausting how everything is now a subscription for a fix you never asked for.

patricia_mason1mo ago

That "wellness sensor" tracking your veggie drawer is so creepy. I read an article calling this stuff "solutionism" where gadgets fix problems that don't exist.