New Philips Hue smart lighting AI Assistant could be on the way

Philips Hue appears to be about to launch a new AI assistant in its app. This upcoming feature was announced by Signify, the company behind the smart home brand, in January. At the same time, the company also spoke about a sound detection tool for smoke alarms and more ways to view live video from a Secure camera.

The AI assistant button appeared in the Philips Hue app following a recent update to version 5.38.1. Users have spotted an icon for the assistant at the bottom right-hand corner of the app’s Home page. It replaces the magnifying glass icon, which you can use to search for your scenes, devices, and rooms. Despite the new icon, when users click on it, they are taken to the same search functionality.

When the AI assistant was announced, Signify stated that it would allow users to generate smart lighting scenes to suit their needs. There will be support for voice or text prompts, with a feedback feature to improve the generated lighting effects. It is expected to be similar to the Govee AI Lighting Bot, which is available on products like the Curtain Lights 2 (curr. from $89.99 at Amazon).

The change log for Philips Hue app version 5.38.1 does not mention the AI assistant; it is identical to that of version 5.38.0, which arrived several days ago, bringing a new QR code scanning tool. It appears that this interim update was designed to remove the leaked Hue Secure doorbell, which is expected to launch later this year. It is unclear when the new AI assistant will officially launch in the Philips Hue app.