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Google TV is getting Gemini AI content recommendations

Pictured: Alap Naik Desai
By Alap Naik Desai
May 15, 2024
Featured image for Google TV is getting Gemini AI content recommendations

Google is replacing traditional history and pattern-driven recommendations for Google TV with Generative Artificial Intelligence. At the Google I/O, the search giant has indicated that Gemini AI will make “smarter” recommendations based on user behavior.

Google TV will have Gemini AI recommending content to viewers

Recommendations by streaming services have been rather simple. Services have heavily relied on viewers’ watchlists, user activity on the platform, and connected streaming services to suggest content.

Moving forward, Gen AI will make recommendations to viewers about what to watch. Google has confirmed that its Gemini AI will make recommendations on Google TV.

Traditionally, streaming platforms offered a lot of choice to users. However, users do tend to spend a lot of time searching for what to watch. Alternatively, users change or adjust their preferences to get better suggestions. Moving forward, Gemini AI will observe the content users are watching and suggest what they should watch.

For example, if a user has watched a political or courtroom drama, Gemini AI will recommend they watch a new series that premiered recently. Gemini AI could also accept and register users’ actions and choices to finetune recommendations.

Why is Gemini replacing traditional recommendation techniques?

According to Google, Gemini will take the content recommendation process, and the platform’s per-user customization or personalization, “to the next level.” Gemini AI can theoretically tailor its recommendation based on the genre, actor, plot, story, and even actor preferences.

Google is reportedly using Gemini AI to “fill in missing or untranslated descriptions”. This will help Google TV hold a lot of relevant information about movies, series, and other content. Viewers do tend to skip watching some shows simply because the descriptions or context is missing. In other words, Gemini could help improve content discovery and consumption too.

Google could be positioning Gemini AI as an AI-driven virtual assistant dedicated to TV watching. Interestingly, Google unveiled a new “Flash” version of Gemini. Simply put, it is a snappier version of the Gen AI.

Google has designed the Flash version of Gemini AI to offer quicker responses to smaller tasks. Simply put, this version of Gemini is built for speed. As Google TV viewers would welcome near-instant responses, Google may be optimizing the Flash version for this platform. However, Google has cautioned that AI-based recommendations might not be accurate.

Gemini might not be able to align perfectly with users’ preferences. However, it is important to note that Gen AI is still evolving, and Gemini should get better as viewers start interacting with it.