18.12.2025, Moscow.
News that Microsoft Copilot AI assistant has begun to be installed on the latest LG TVs without the owners’ consent suggests that we are entering era in which the distinction between a “smart” gadget and a device controlled by the manufacturer is being erased, Rossa Primavera News Agency‘s IT Desk notes.
In mid-December, users on Reddit and the Windows Forum began reporting the forced installation of Copilot on their TVs during a routine update. The AI assistant gains access to the microphone and other functions of the device. After that, reports emerged of similar behavior on other “smart” TVs: for example, on Samsung devices a number of applications are constantly restored or reactivated if they had previously been removed or deactivated.
On the one hand, constant updates and the activation of unnecessary applications lead to unstable operation of TVs. On the other hand, users feel deceived: they paid money for a device they do not actually control. Gadgets collect data about the users in order to later push targeted advertising onto them — in other words, to manipulate their behavior.
It must be understood that the Copilot story is only one example. The concept of a “smart” gadget means “smart for the manufacturer,” not for the user. By purchasing such a device, a person acquires an imposed ecosystem with rules that can change at any moment without their consent.
To stop a “smart” TV from installing undesired apps, it has to be turned into a “dumb” monitor by disconnecting it from the internet. The paradox of the modern digital age is that, in order to retain control over a device, it must be deprived of its most advanced technology.
A world in which every person is monitored 24/7 has ceased to be a dystopian story, it is already a reality. And no laws were required for this: people themselves buy devices that monitor and gather data about them.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
