By Max A. Cherney and Abhirup Roy

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - (This Jan. 4 story has been corrected to say that Bosch is scheduled to speak at CES on AI and cybersecurity, not that Bosch is expected to showcase a gun-detection system, in paragraph 9 and fixes executive's name to Aakash Arora in paragraph 11)

OpenAI boss Sam Altman will not appear at the CES trade show in Las Vegas next week. But the generative artificial-intelligence fever his startup set off last year will be on full display as gadget makers race to find consumer uses for the technology.

In devices for the visually impaired, and safety systems involving guns at schools, to facial-recognition software that can assess vitals, and cabin-monitoring systems inside autonomous cars, dozens of companies have planned announcements for the show about how they are building AI into their gadgets.

CES 2024, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, runs Jan. 9-12.

Among other projects, OpenAI is working on a secretive AI hardware project with famed former Apple designer Jony Ive, according to media reports.

Funding for generative AI projects exploded last year, surging more than fivefold to $23.78 billion through the beginning of December from 2022, according to PitchBook data.

"It's the year of AI in everything," said Maribel Lopez, tech analyst at Lopez Research. "If you don't have AI in your product, don't show up, it's not worth talking about."

Germany's Bosch, which recently won a CES award for a near-invisible gun-detection system that pairs video and audio AI for proactive security involving firearms at schools, is scheduled to speak on AI and cybersecurity at a panel in the show. Japan's NEC will unveil AI software that enables mobile devices to analyze face patterns and pupil conditions to estimate human vitals and mental state.

A slew of companies is expected to show off how using AI in vehicles is making them smoother and safer for drivers through better in-vehicle virtual assistants and cabin monitors.

The new focus area for automakers after years of investment into autonomous technology that used AI is technology that allows a "hyper personalized" experience while buying and driving cars, said Aakash Arora, a managing director at Boston Consulting Group.

"They're trying to figure out 'if I could get to this level of customer experience it can really differentiate me in the market,'" he said of companies in the auto industry.

But it is not clear whether consumers will pay extra for AI capabilities on their computers because these developments perform less obvious tasks than OpenAI's ChatGPT bot.

"Consumers love ChatGPT, but the consumer benefit of having it on a device isn't clear," said Jay Goldberg, chief executive of D2D Advisory. "That's why everyone is going to talk about it - because everyone is scrambling for the consumer utility."