“All of those restrictions go away”: Philips Hue reveals how its new AI feature will transform your entire setup

I've said it before and I'll say it again, but Philips Hue is in for another huge year if its recent announcements are anything to go by. The brand has launched everything from new smart lights to a collaboration with Nanoleaf, but if you're wondering how your existing Philips Hue setup is going to change, it's the new Custom AI Behaviours feature that's really worth paying attention to.

Exclusive to Hue Bridge Pro users, the new feature removes the need to manually build complicated automations. Instead, you can simply describe what you want your lights to do in everyday language, and the Hue AI assistant will create the automation for you.

I spoke with George Yianni, Head of R&D at Hue Connected; Marco Merolla, Business Leader for Consumer Connected Lighting; and Drago Jozic, Market Leader for Benelux & UK&I, to find out what the new update means for Philips Hue users.

For those with an existing Hue setup, George's initial comments give you a good idea of why the new system is such an improvement. He explained that the current Hue system is "internally templated", meaning users have historically been limited to choosing from predefined options and dropdown menus.

That has worked well for the most common use cases, but it also puts a ceiling on how complicated your automations can become. As George explained, Hue previously didn't allow things such as multiple accessories interacting with each other in more complex ways, or accessories responding to different combinations of time and conditions.

"All of those restrictions go away with the new engine," George told me.

Of course, giving AI more control over your smart home raises the obvious question of how do you make it useful without it feeling intrusive? After speaking to the Hue team, it became clear that this is something the company is very conscious of.

Drago explained that the aim is for the technology to become part of your routine rather than interrupting it, with Hue keen to ensure that people never feel like they're being monitored.

There's also a deliberate effort to keep the user in control. As the team explained, Hue isn't currently trying to create things on your behalf without being asked. Instead, "you tell us how you would like the system behave" and Hue makes it easier to turn that idea into reality.

It's important to note that this could change in the future. The team acknowledged that there is an opportunity for Hue to start suggesting useful automations based on the products someone owns or how they use them. However, that's where the line between being helpful and being intrusive becomes much harder to navigate.

For now, Hue says it is firmly on the non-intrusive side, with Custom AI Behaviours acting as a tool to help users get more out of the system rather than something that dictates how their home should behave.

This is ultimately what makes the Custom AI Behaviours feature more interesting than an AI assistant on its own. It means you can create much more automations tailored to the way you actually use your setup, without having to understand what's happening behind the scenes. The AI is simply the way you tell Hue what you want – the real change is the much more flexible automation system underneath.