Google Gemini is moving into your televisions today, starting with the TCL QM9K series. Viewers aren’t just going to get some smarter voice commands with the upgrade, either. Gemini will function as a full-blown conversational partner on your big screen.
Google boasts that Gemini will assist in everything from helping you decide what to watch based on your general vibe to summarizing the last season of a show you last watched three years ago. It will also make your TV more of a generalized smart screen, offering recipes and educational lessons for kids.
Unlike the Google Assistant already on many TVs, Gemini isn’t just about executing commands. It’s about understanding context and engaging in back-and-forth conversations. You don’t need to remember the name of a show or speak in keyword-ese. As the example suggests, you can just say, “What’s that new hospital drama everyone’s talking about?” and Gemini will offer suggestions like The Pitt, complete with trailers and reviews. You can follow up by asking about reviews or appropriateness for kids, or any other detail you want.
Google is also keen to hype Gemini’s educational abilities. You can ask about black holes and how they form, but “in a way a third grader would understand,” and it’ll deliver a tailored answer, and perhaps even a relevant YouTube video. The same goes for things adults might want to learn, like how to play a musical instrument or make a tray of brownies.
After the initial TCL rollout, Gemini will head to a still-growing list of Google TV devices later this year, including the new Google TV Streamer. Your own TV probably won’t be able to handle it simply due to hardware requirements. Gemini’s on-TV performance needs computing muscle to provide real-time voice processing, contextual understanding, and video integration.
Smart TVs, AI environments
Gemini’s TV functions may sound familiar if you’ve used Gemini on your phone or laptop, but it continues Google’s ambition to make its AI omnipresent in your life. The dream of ‘ambient computing’ and an environment built around AI is not happening tomorrow, but it might be closer than you’d expect.
And it’s not a one-lane race. Google is keen to have an edge in the battle of smart TV assistants. Microsoft is collaborating with Samsung to embed its Copilot AI in Samsung TVs, while LG is building out its own voice AI, and Amazon is making TVs a central hub for its new edition of Alexa.
Whoever controls the living room AI experience may very well shape our daily tech habits for the next decade. Search, shopping, scheduling, and learning are all up for grabs because TVs aren’t just for entertainment anymore.
Google wants Gemini to be wherever you are, so the TV is the next logical step. Whether we’re ready to talk back to our TVs is another matter.
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