How about a game controller that "suggests button remapping and sensitivity adjustments" based on your usage? How about a gaming mouse that "adjusts DPI settings in real time to ensure that your cursor movements are always precise and smooth?" Or how about a keyboard that "suggests key remaps and macros tailored to your gaming habits?" These are all promises of AI Shark, a new peripheral manufacturer from the former U.S. CEO of the company that launched GameShark in 1996.

"We've updated our product and brought it into the age of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and supercomputers," the AI Shark website claims.

"We have updated our product to bring it into the age of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and supercomputing," the AI Shark website claims.

AI Shark, which debuted at this year's CES, is part of a wave of hardware companies that claim to be jumping on the AI bandwagon and offering significant advantages to gamers. MSI, for example, just announced a monitor that is said to help you keep track of your opponents in League of Legends, and AI Shark CEO Todd Hayes said in a press release, "By harnessing the power of AI, supercomputers, and exceptional code writing teams, we aim to 10x the success of the original GameShark and redefine the landscape of gaming on a global scale." [GameShark was a hot accessory back in the 90s that allowed console players to cheat at games, access test levels by altering game code in memory, and cut content. Hayes was the head of the U.S. corporation of Interact, the developer of GameShark, during its heyday. More recently, he and AI Shark's chief technology officer founded a bitcoin gift card company called BitCard. That company has not posted on social media since May 2023. As far as I know, the cards are no longer for sale. [It partnered with audio company Altec Lansing, which announced in a press release that it was the "first licensee of AI Shark's cutting-edge gaming software." This is for a headset, which I didn't mention, but which promises "real-time auditory guidance" and "verbal cues about in-game events" to help during games. [An image of the headset on AI Shark's website shows the AI Shark logo over the existing $59.99 Altec Lansing Whisper headphones. The controller is this $35 Bluetooth model sold on Amazon, which also has the logo Photoshopped on it.

AI Shark's website does not state that any of the products are mock-ups, but in an email to PC Gamer, CEO Todd Hays writes that these are "product concepts with proof of concept technology demonstrations already developed." Hays also stated that the peripherals have "integrated TPU processing," which refers to Tensor Processing Units optimized for machine learning.

The website does not describe the AI capabilities promised by the peripherals as a possible feature. In fact, it is misleading as to how they are currently presented. The AI game controller shown on the website is not, as AI Shark claims, a "masterpiece of precision engineering" and certainly does not "incorporate sensors that detect grip strength, pressure, and button timing to adjust button sensitivity and response in real time."

None of that applies to the off-brand controller available on Amazon, which one reviewer called "Absolute GARBAGE." and another "Bad a**." (To be clear, they are "bad a**" because they can play Minecraft on their iPads, not because of the AI capabilities.)

If AI Shark is indeed producing the unique hardware with AI capabilities that they claim, the final product will probably be different from what is currently on their website. Hayes corroborated the claimed feature, writing in an email that AI Shark's "XGPT training system" can "learn what the player is going to do and what they should do before they do it," but the details of how it does so are "currently under strict NDA It is," he stated.

Perhaps the company was just eager to get its name out there and really intends to offer the products listed here. If so, the way they are throwing around lofty claims with little to no supporting evidence reminds me to be very skeptical if I see anything related to AI this year. Everyone wants a piece of the hype.