How has Artificial Intelligence improved our experience with television?

Television was born in the 30s with the intention of giving another focus to radio broadcasts, not only in news, but also in the field of leisure, such as, for example, radio novels. Since its inception, television has only evolved. Today it benefits from the advances of Artificial Intelligence.

First it was black and white. In the ‘ 70s, color and video players arrived. Later, DVD and Blu-ray. The screens were flattened, stretched and improved the quality of the broadcast image. With the new century comes DTT and, today, we are in the age of internet-connected television. In today’s post we will see what Artificial Intelligence has contributed to this evolution.

Smart TV

At the end of 2010, what we know today as Smart TVs began to appear, the televisions connected to the Internet. This breakthrough arises with the intention of merging multimedia and traditional content in the same device, also adapting to new forms of consumption. Services arrive in
streaming apps content on demand, and video-on-demand subscription platforms.

Television, Internet and Artificial Intelligence

The combination of the Internet and Artificial Intelligence has greatly contributed to the improved user experience with Smart TVs. Next, let’s talk about some of the advances we consider most important of these devices in recent years.

– **Access to different platforms. **As we mentioned previously, thanks to the Internet connection, television can now have different applications (video on demand, streaming music, access to web pages…) that expand the uses of the device.

– Content recommendations. Within some platforms there are suggestions. The device learns, through the contents that we usually watch or from what other people with similar tastes have seen, to recommend what might interest us view by genre and popularity.

– Connectivity. They can be connected to other types of devices and played on smart TVs (smartphones, tablets, computers…).

– Virtual assistant. Many of the new models support virtual assistants. The user will be able to ask the assistant, through the voice, from what time is it outside? a when is the next Atleti game? And he will answer through an internet search the question he has received. It also allows viewers to forget about the remote control and configuration menus. One example is Aura, Telefónica’s virtual assistant.

– Voice control. We can forget about the remote control. Depending on the device you will have to press a button or call the attention of the assistant so that the device starts listening to the action, then you can ask it to change the channel, the platform, to turn up or down the volume or even to start recording. In addition, it will allow users to forget about using menus and can also ask the wizard to perform different actions how to adjust the brightness, adjust the image to the screen…

– Live control. Some platforms, such as Movistar+, allow us to pause and go back at any time during a live broadcast.

– Schedule different actions. This type of television also allows us to program functions such as turning off the device, recording a channel at a certain time or even playing content.

The future of television

What will become of television in the future? There are still many changes to come. Experts say that watching TV in the future will be a totally different experience for each user. Not only for the content that each person sees, but also for personalized advertising or for the possibility of acquiring a more active role as a viewer in some broadcasts.

This looks like a distant future, but it’s not that much, in fact. Movistar + will start broadcasting segmented advertising on your channel #0. In each household you will see a different advertising based on its components, tastes and preferences. In order to achieve more effective advertising. All this is achieved thanks to Artificial Intelligence.