AI is such a hot topic of conversation, but it’s also a difficult one for a lot of people to engage with. Most want to move on from it immediately, either out of a sense of vague understanding or for fear of how disruptive it might be down the line.
It came up at our office recently in relation to an article about a new “AI-powered” drill press. Reading it, I felt like Steve Harvey after someone gave a hilariously bad answer on Family Feud. HUH?
Truly AI-powered tools were not on my radar. Sure, this technology was seemingly everywhere—from commercials to customer service agents and even the [drive-thru lane](http…
AI is such a hot topic of conversation, but it’s also a difficult one for a lot of people to engage with. Most want to move on from it immediately, either out of a sense of vague understanding or for fear of how disruptive it might be down the line.
It came up at our office recently in relation to an article about a new “AI-powered” drill press. Reading it, I felt like Steve Harvey after someone gave a hilariously bad answer on Family Feud. HUH?
Truly AI-powered tools were not on my radar. Sure, this technology was seemingly everywhere—from commercials to customer service agents and even the drive-thru lane at your favorite fast food chains. But tools? I assumed we were still far away from something like that, if it ever became realized at all.
It felt like a claim worth digging into more. Was AI coming for our tools?
The answer: not exactly.
This Isn’t Really AI.
As the AI wave of technology rolls in, it appears that many companies are fond of attaching the moniker to their product line as a marketing ploy. Simply put, the term “Artificial Intelligence” is a machine’s ability to think and, more importantly, learn as a human does. AI sifts through and analyzes massive sets of data before responding to a prompt as though it’s reasoned out (some might say “hallucinated”) an answer as a human might. Because of this, AI technology is orders of magnitudes higher–and faster–than traditional “smart” technology which we’ve come to know throughout our daily lives.
This is where the marketing waters are becoming muddy. Appliances like TVs, dishwashers, and refrigerators have become so “smart” and adaptive to the way we use them that it’s easy to push them to the next level by referring to them as drive by “AI.” This is where things get confusing for consumers because, while your dishwasher may be analyzing the size of the load and the amount of residual food on the dishes to better optimize performance, it’s a long way from telling you to do a better job of scraping your plates next time you load them.
By comparison, tool platforms are even less adaptive. Squeezing the trigger of a drill or saw activates an internal motor, which in turn drives the tool’s utility. Pretty simple. And most tools are non-diagnostic, meaning that—outside of usual performance, sound, and temperature—the tool lacks the ability to let the user know there’s an internal issue. Motors burn out. Electrical brushes wear and fail. Gears strip. Something starts to feel or smell “off,” the RPMs sag, and you just know the tool is living on borrowed time. The downside, of course, is that these types of situations always seem to happen in the middle of a project which, in turn, throws the workflow of either you or your crew completely off.
While many tools for residential pros and homeowners have “smart” capabilities, the tools themselves are still far from being accurately labeled “AI-driven.” They’re simply not.
Smart Features Don’t Count
Several manufacturers have already woven “smart” features like adaptive sensors and cloud connectivity into their platforms. None of these technologies will actually cut the board for you, but they’re beginning to give the tools a level of diagnostic intelligence that would have been inconceivable a few years ago.
DeWalt Tool Connect
DeWalt’s Tool Connect system is similar. It employs an inventory management system that uses Bluetooth-enabled tools, batteries, and accessories like tags and chips to track and manage assets on a jobsite through a mobile app and web portal. This system improves productivity and efficiency by preventing lost tools, enabling features like remote disabling, and providing real-time data on battery status and tool performance.
For example, DeWalt’s 20v XR 1/2-inch impact wrench is one of the most powerful drivers available. Shop mechanics can enable the tool’s precision wrench control via the platform’s app to prevent over- or under-tightening of lugs, bolts, and fasteners. Additionally, the app provides diagnostic information such as battery life, tool temperature, trigger pulls, and run time.
Smartest Impact Wrench
DEWALT 20V MAX 1/2-Inch Impact Wrench
Bosch Stud Finders and Wall Scanners
Stud finders are notoriously wonky, and I’ve always used mine with a certain degree of suspicion and skepticism. Bosch is pushing stud finders beyond the point of “hope and pray” accuracy.
The brand’s D-Techt 200C scanner uses radar technology to indicate the correct material behind the walls, giving the user a fuller picture of pipes, wiring, seams, rebar, and plastic through up to eight inches of concrete. The scanner is capable of presenting four different perspectives of the inner workings of a wall or floor, with all images capable of being uploaded to a database for further analysis. Again, it doesn’t qualify as AI, but it’s a technological leap forward from common stud finders.
Smart Wall Scanner
Bosch D-TECT200C 12V Max Wall and Floor Scanner
Milwaukee One-Key
Milwaukee’s latest onboard feature—the One-Key system—uses Bluetooth, stored cloud data, and adaptive profiles so that users can tailor RPMs, torque, and material data for job-specific tasks. One-Key tools geofence themselves, track usage patterns, and fine-tune battery output for tool optimization. In basic terms, the tool tunes itself to the task at hand.
With the Milwaukee M18 FUEL Cordless Table Saw, users can “lock” the saw via the corresponding app in the event the tool is stolen or goes missing. The owner of the app can also perform inventory management in that they can observe the tool’s performance, usage hours, and location on any given job site.
Smart Table Saw
Milwaukee M18 FUEL One-Key Cordless Table Saw
Hilti: Predictive Maintenance and Smart Batteries
Hilti is really paving the way with its Nuron and On!Track tool ecosystem. Their batteries and chargers continuously monitor heat, current, and cell health, which alert the user of issues before they become failures. Tools can even transmit data to project managers, where maintenance and repair issues can be determined and addressed by another set of eyes. It’s not so much that your saw is “thinking.” It’s more like it’s letting you know “I’m having a bad day.”
Hilti’s On!Track system is embedded in a proprietary 22v battery/charger system, where it relays data and logistics back to the user’s smartphone, device, or desktop. For tools with non-embedded sensors, owners can purchase stand-alone tags to affix to items to better spread diagnostics across their fleet.
Smart Tags from Hilti
Hilti ON!Track Bluetooth Smart Tag Set
What Will it Look Like When AI Does Come to O Tools?
To be sure, today’s smart tech isn’t giving the tool AI-like consciousness or a personality of its own. But by incorporating sensors that layer in use pattern recognition, adaptive algorithms, and internal clocking, machines that were once blind will reveal much about themselves, their operator, and the way they’re being used (or misused).
Emerging tool technologies can:
- Recognize abnormal patterns in torque, vibration, and heat.
- Monitor its own internal components in real time.
- Adjust delivery in terms of power, relative load, and resistance.
- Learn user behavior to optimize performance.
- Predict mechanical failures before they occur.
Rather than wait for something to break, a smarter drill could flag a failing battery cell before it dies, throttle more power to a drive as a load gets heavier, or adjust the RPMs as a bit meets resistance. Laser levels will recognize room geometry and auto-correct layouts. Stud finders will map the density of walls and recognize wires and plumbing with precision. None of this will take the tool out of the hands of the user. But the tool will increasingly understand itself and its surroundings, so you can work cleanly, safely, and with fewer expensive time lags and mistakes.
Most power tools have seen advances since their inception. To that end, new technology to make the tool better, lighter, easier to use, and adaptive is to be expected. It’s not something that concerns me. I don’t worry that AI is coming for my tools. But as a tradesman, a writer, a productive member of society with a profound sense of purpose, and (most importantly) a father, I do worry that a technology with no apparent guardrails, built by experts who now deem it to be a thousand times smarter than the smartest ten human beings on earth is coming for much more than our tools.
Our Favorite Tools with Smart Technology
Milwaukee M18 FUEL One-Key 18V Cordless Table Saw
Credit: Home Depot
Paul Russell Smith is a former NYC ironworker turned screenwriter (Grace Point) and home renovation specialist. He lives in a crooked old farmhouse in Stockton, NJ, where he’s just as likely to be clearing a clogged pipe as rewriting a third act. When he’s not working, he enjoys hiking, pedestrian beer, and cooking over a live fire. His self-proclaimed spirit animal is the English Bulldog.