Even with LG’s concession, it may become more difficult to avoid chatbots on TVs.
LG says it will let people delete the Copilot icon from their TVs soon, but it still has plans to weave the service throughout webOS. The Copilot web app rollout seems to have been a taste of LG’s bigger plans to add Copilot to some of its 2025 OLED TVs. In a January announcement, LG said Copilot will help users find stuff to watch by “allowing users to efficiently find and organize complex information using contextual cues.” LG also said Copilot would “proactively” identify potential user problems and offer “timely, effective solutions.”
Some TVs from LG’s biggest rival, Samsung, have included Copilot since August. Owners of supporting 2025 TVs can speak to Copilot using their remote’s microphone. They can also access Copilot via the Tizen OS homescreen’s Apps tab or through the TVs’ Click to Search feature, which lets users press a dedicated remote button to search for content while watching live TV or Samsung TV Plus. Users can also ask the TV to make AI-generated wallpapers or provide real-time subtitle translations.
I would be so happy if I could just disable the “magic mouse” (IIRC that’s what it’s called). I once talked to support for an unrelated reason and asked how to do that; they said the only way was to enable on screen narration.
Any time throughout the conversation I asked why those two things were connected, they dodged or outright ignored the question.
I’m on a lg c1 and the magic mouse is disabled. Without narration.
How did you do that?
I’ve never owned a smart TV. I still don’t see a point in owning one. Why in the world would someone need copilot on their TV?
Copilot is trash
All I want is a DisplayPort and maybe some os with freedom of Linux why is that too much to ask for. The fact I can’t have vrr with my $600 GPU is absolute bullshit
The problem is, you can never trust companies whose products can update over the air. (like “smart TVs”). The company can promise all kinds of things they won’t do and then sneak something awful into a future update. I will spend a little more on “non-smart / no WiFi” TVs in the future.
How exactly?
They don’t make no Wifi TVs. You can choose to not give it your Wifi Password.
And please don’t say digital signage. That costs 10x what a TV does and the picture is significantly worse.
Here’s a 32" one on Amazon. Found it in just a few seconds.
I haven’t updated my LG TV in over 2 years. I just know it’s going to be some useless shit that just makes it worse with more ads and AI
They added chromecast to mine this year which has been useful.
Using that would require having my TV connected to the internet, which I refuse to do.
Is there a manufacturer that doesn’t ship a bunch of bloat with its televisions? Maybe Panasonic or Sony?
I have a Hisense that I’ve never connected to the internet. It has an input button on the remote, and I just use that to go between inputs. I’m only reminded it’s a smart TV when the power goes out and I see the Google TV boot screen.
Monitors and projectors also work.
As far as I know, none. “Smart” in smart TVs means ads, data collection and profit, they aren’t about to leave money on the table.
The only way to get “dumb” TVs is to purchase digital signage TVs meant for in-store displays and other business use. In fact, they’re better than ordinary TVs with improved cooling and rated lifespans, specially designed to run 24 hours a day in a cafe or smth.
Unfortunately, companies don’t sell it to individuals, you have to buy it as a company. You either have to buy used or set up your own shell company. I’m this close to setting up a fake company to buy a TV, but I’m not sure if it’ll work. Hopefully there’s no secret legally binding TOS or smth.
I am genuinely curious, this whole thing is most likely an effort to sell more TVs, but does that actually work? Is there a significant segment of customers which buys TVs based on whether or not it has a (link to a) chatbot in it? Or did some exec just decide “our products need to have AI now” with 0 research done.
I would really like to see data on this.
Or did MS pay them to include it, knowing they could hoover up a lot of data, perhaps even with a clause in the contract to also share that data with LG?
They do it because those TVs are selling.
What many people seem to misunderstand today dramatically is that no sane major manufacturer will push a genuinely risky feature. On the contrary, if something like this makes it into a product, it’s because there is an expectation of immediate or medium-term profit, backed by extensive market research. Companies aren’t stupid; they are highly optimised for this kind of decision-making. And I would honestly be glad to be proven wrong.
In other words, if the feature is there, it means that people either like it or simply don’t care enough to make it into a problem.
And here’s the hot take: don’t blame the manufacturer, blame the people. Collectively consumers have shown almost no resistance to the ongoing enshitification of the last decade.
I’m glad you’re opposed to it, and many people here are too, but in the bigger picture it is just a drop in the ocean, unfortunately.
That hot take ignores human psychology’s known weaknesses.
Blaming the public for falling victim to psychological manipulation that has been being perfected for generations is like blaming a stabbing victim for bleeding so much.
We need a custom replacement ROMs like Lineage or Graphene for smart TVs.
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the irony
Im still on webos 24. Should I stick with it forever? I also use pihole and dev portal homebrew.
This crap is why my LG TV lost its internet privileges last year and built a htpc to do all my media needs.
I already barely watch the TV I have, and it never goes online.
The Internet sucks now, and I’ve got shit to do. Gimme a reason to stop looking at screens. I fucking dare you.
When you get a new TV, make sure it supports CEC so you can bypass all this bullshit.
CEC allows your input devices to change inputs, control power, control volume, etc.
My current setup is a Samsung QLED, Xbox, and Apple TV. All support CEC and I never touch the Samsung remote and have no idea what’s in the Samsung menus anymore.
If I turn on the streaming box, the tv turns on, the input changes, and all I see is the streaming box UI. Same for the game console. CEC is fucking incredible and an underrated thing that doesn’t get the flowers it deserves. It just works.
Edit: imagine your TV is dumb monitor with a KVM. That’s what CEC feels like when it’s setup correctly.
Yup. It’s awesome.
When I turn on my Switch 2 with its remote, the TV starts with the Switch HDMI input. When I turn the TV off with the remote, the Switch 2 turns off. The Switch 1 did the same thing. Stuff like this is awesome.
My last TV’s remote could even control playback on my Chromecast.
LG magic remote can’t though for some reason. Disappointing.
This post deserves to be a Technology Connections video
Oh my god he would have so much fun with CEC. What a wonderful and cursed protcol
I detest that man so much now. His first videos were good, then his ego started growing, then the bitchy gay man presentation started. I find that so off-putting. Drop the 'tude and give the facts my man.
Imagine complaining about highly informative, IIRC ad-free, high effort videos (that you don’t have to watch, btw) because he complains about industry trends too much and seems a bit camp.
Imagine a person having personal preferences - holy shit what a mind-blowing concept that must be for you
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That’s what I do. I have an LG OLED from 6-7 years ago and I have no idea what the UI looks like. But to be fair this is only because I don’t watch traditional TV at all. It’s just an Apple TV for most streaming services and a Mac Mini for some other things like adblocked youtube (with one of those cheap gyro mouse and keyboard bluetooth remotes). I guess I wouldn’t have to use the satellite TV though, I could get iptv via my fibre isp too, but that’d cost money.
The Mac is not good at supporting CEC other than switching source when it wakes up, but even that’s not an issue because I can still use the Apple TV remote to control volume even when something else is the active source. Speaking of volume, my setup also includes a Samsung sound bar which also has a remote that I never actually have to use. Everything mostly just works.
CEC has little to do with this; it’s an app that’s installed not a button on the remote. The search button referenced can use copilot but it’s not necessary (ie you can use the default webOS search) nor is the button copilot branded.
CEC is awesome, it just doesn’t address the issue raised by putting copilot/other AI apps on the smart TV itself. For that you just disable the internet connection.
My point about CEC is that it doesn’t matter what silly crap they install on the TV. You won’t see the unremovable apps and ads if CEC will bypass that junk entirely.
A good CEC setup will kind of feel like your TV is a dumb monitor and there is a KVM that switches all the auto and video when you pick up a game controller or streaming box remote.
I never see my TV’s software and I never touch my TV’s remote.
It’s not even an app, it’s just a link to the copilot website
Nope, CEC sucks. It makes lots of simple stuff complicated and it often does things on its own.
Just don’t connect TV to the internet or purchase a dumb PC monitor.
Find me a 60", 4K OLED with proper HDR support and ease of wall-mounting that’s anywhere near the price of a TV.
I’d love to buy a monitor and use it like that, but it’s a fantasy.
What devices have you tried it with?
I’ve been very happy with Samsung’s implementation paired with Apple and Microsoft devices.
That said, I haven’t see how things play out with other TV brand and input devices from Sony, Roku, etc. I only know that my setup has been pretty damn bulletproof.
Same here. I have my PS5 and Chromecast w/GTV via CEC, and haven’t seen the TVs UI in a long time. No issues whatsoever.
I’ve used many throughout the years. There’s always something goofy going on. Watching something on input one might automatically switch to another input that is just doing a network software update check in sleep mode. Or someone picks up a game controller and accidentally presses a button which will also suddenly switch inputs.
CEC is only good if the devices connected to it are very limited and if you want to do all software updates for everything manually.
LG’s implementation is both good and bad. It doesn’t automatically switch over, but it pops up a dialog box asking if you want to switch inputs whenever another input is connected or device turned on.
Samsung did neither, and I always had to manually switch inputs.
i prefer roku
