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Redundant Technology

This particular use case for AI far exceeds the usual level of pointlessness as things go. In many parts of the world finding food to survive is still a big deal so snacking is not even a concept. Surviving the day takes so much mental and physical effort that the person has no capacity to game even if in theory they could. The next level of uselessness is the chip-crunch silencer so the gamer is not annoyed. 

To design its “crunch cancellation” technology, Doritos partnered with Brooklyn, New York-based interactive design studio Smooth Technology, which developed the software over six months. The development team used artificial intelligence and machine learning to train its software to recognize the precise sounds involved in a Doritos crunch, analyzing more than 5,000 different crunch sounds along the way. Once the software singles out and recognizes a crunch sound, it filters it out before it is transmitted through your microphone, in effect canceling the crunch and allowing you to silently enjoy your snack.

But all games are not made equal - there are those that aim to solve real world problems. 

.. EarthGamesUW offers students from diverse disciplines—computer science to English, information sciences to education—the opportunity to produce real products and practice professional skills, all while having an impact on climate change.

In the same vein, maybe the crunch-silencer application can go a different more socially useful direction in the future, become a selective noise cancellation solution. There are homes where a child cannot fall asleep because the adults are in a loud, heated argument - there is value in canceling that noise out so the kid sleeps in peace, has less stress and anxiety in their life - wakes up ready to learn at school, create a path out of the turbulence at home. 

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