Google Gemini to let you change TV settings with voice commands

Google thinks AI can solve the problem of needing to wade through complicated TV settings menus. With a forthcoming update to its Gemini AI assistant on Google TV, you’ll be able to adjust TV settings with voice commands. For instance, you can say things like “the screen is too dim” to increase brightness, or “the dialog is lost” to turn on subtitles. That’s one of several new AI features that Google plans to roll out to its TV platform in the months ahead. The company also announced more image-driven responses to basic queries, a “Deep Dives” feature that provides a narrated summary of complex topics, and some new ways to look up and interact with Google Photos libraries. Google says these features will arrive on “select TCL devices” first, followed by other Google TV devices in the coming months. Tweaking TV settings The big question with Gemini’s settings controls will be how deep they’ll go. If all you can do is control basic things like brightness or volume, that’ll only be of marginal use. On the other hand, imagine asking to turn off motion smoothing on your TV (or your parents’ TV), or to turn off the ACR features that monitor what you watch and then sell the data to marketers . I’ll be asking Google about these possibilities and others in an upcoming interview. Other AI features Google The other Gemini TV features that Google is announcing at CES 2026 range from useful to gimmicky. If you ask what to watch next based on a show you liked, for instance, Google will now show cover art for its recommendations instead of just answering with text. (It’s unclear, however, if you’ll be able to click on the art to load the recommendations directly.) Google Gemini will also provide visual responses for more general queries, so you can ask about things like Van Gogh paintings or the Northern Lights and get images in return. For more complex queries, Gemini will also show example follow-up questions to dive deeper into the topic. Google Gemini will be able look up pictures from Google Photos in response to voice commands (something the previous Google Assistant was already able to do) and turn images into slideshows on the fly. Google seems to think you’ll want to create content on your TV as well, as it’s adding a way to make AI-generated images and videos with its Nano Banana and Veo AI models. Some of this stuff feels a bit forced, as if there’s a mandate to stuff AI features onto TVs regardless of whether users are asking for it. But Google does believe that the TV will evolve from just a place to watch videos into an AI-driven hub for information . I still have my doubts about that, but at least it’ll make controlling your TV settings a little easier in the meantime.