AI is the talk of CES this year, and many brands are showing off their advancements with the emerging tech. Despite the excitement, TV is one industry that has been slow to figure out what use AI will have in its future. Recently, media companies have debuted new AI-fueled tools for ad buying and content recommendation. Now, one connected TV  company has given CES attendees a glimpse into what the future tech may look like for TV advertisers.

Telly, the fully ad-supported connected TV maker that distributes its devices to consumers for free in exchange for data, unveiled new AI tools that will present new marketing opportunities for brands. One is a virtual assistant that utilizes ChatGPT to make customized recommendations and learn each user’s preferences over time.

Telly, which debuted in May 2023 after a two-year stealth period, said it has shipped thousands of its connected TVs.

Telly’s founder and CEO, Ilya Pozin, compared market-leading virtual assistants, such as Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa, with a basic search engine, while Telly’s acts more like robotic companions in sci-fi films. Users will be able to select different personalities for their device—a demo reviewed by Ad Age featured a chef version that makes food puns and a more serious and to-the-facts version called “metal.” Additional personas are set to roll out over time.

After identifying the desired AI personality, the CTV device—which features a built-in camera and second screen for always-on advertising while watching content on the main screen—snapped a photo of the test user. The AI assistant analyzed the photo, identifying objects from the person’s surroundings, such as books and a guitar, to formulate its response.

In response to a query about fun activities for the test user to do, Telly’s AI instantly suggested a local bread-baking class and offered to send the details to their phone. For a request on a restaurant to select on an upcoming vacation, the assistant selected a spot that matched one of the user’s frequently-played bands as well as dietary preferences, and again offered to send the details to their phone. 

Some details Telly knows because a user must fill out an extensive list of questions including basic demographic information as well as what car the user drives, what restaurants they eat at and whether they participate in sports betting. The rest is learned as a user watches content and uses the device. For example, the assistant would pull insights from both partners’ streaming profiles when asked to suggest a movie for date night.

And brand integration is a priority for Telly. While the CTV company is focused on fine-tuning its AI tech for now, sponsorships are a goal to add to its inventory. Just like sponsored search results, Pozin said brands will be able to buy first placements on searches that match their targets, such as local concerts or a new movie on streaming. 

The assistant will also be integrated with a new browser in Telly’s interface to make shoppable advertising easier. Shoppable advertising has become an emphasis for CTV and streamers in recent years, as media companies seek to diversify formats to attract advertisers, particularly as digital platforms that offer direct business results vie for TV’s ad dollars.

More: Roku and Peacock team up on AI-powered shoppable ads

Rather than scanning a QR code (which Telly still offers as an ad product) or having a product texted to the user, the device’s AI assistant can take users directly to a checkout page to order from the device using stored banking information. And with its two-screen layout, the transaction can occur without exiting the content a user is watching. 

Pozin said Telly’s AI assistant is integrated with ChatGPT in its first iteration, but that it’s not tied to the AI company’s proprietary technology. This allows Telly to swap AI providers easily; the executive said he’s taking meetings with companies to discuss deals, and mentioned Google, Microsoft and OpenAI as potential partners.

Also: ISpot launches streaming TV measurement tools

AI fitness

Telly is also announcing the launch of another AI product at CES—a video workout program in which AI will correct a user’s form. The device’s built-in camera uses motion-tracking technology to follow the exerciser’s body during a fitness session and will alert them to poor form.

In the future, a brand might tap into the fitness program to identify and message to users of a certain fitness level, or perhaps sponsor fitness challenges that prompt a user to perform a certain exercise.

“There’s so much conversation about AI and 99.9% of it is BS—everyone’s just trying to ride the bandwagon,” said Pozin. “But when you’re the main device in the home and you have so much personal information and content viewing…That thing becomes your best friend and assistant. I don’t think people can imagine what it’s capable of.”

Ads on Telly

For Telly’s life so far, Pozin and his team have mostly been validating the platform to marketers. Kia America was an early test partner, running ads over Telly’s second screen. While the device’s primary screen acts as a normal CTV, a slimmer one beneath it acts as an always-on ad unit. Customizable widgets, such as stocks, game scores, news and weather can appear while a box on the right features advertising at all times.

“Brands advertising on TV acknowledge how difficult it is to find and follow audiences in today’s fragmented environment,” said Russell Wagner, VP and head of marketing for Kia America, in a statement. “Telly, with its unique model and innovative ad inventory, solves that problem. Kia, as an early adopter, is thrilled with our results on Telly and excited to scale with them.”

Watch Kia’s ad starring Draymond Green

While Pozin said Telly now has a “handful of brands” that have done direct deals, thousands have bought inventory programmatically, which the executive said is Telly’s emphasis. Programmatic “is the solution to all the fragmentation that we’ve seen,” said Pozin. “It’s backwards to build a company today that’s focused on direct sales efforts, going brand-to-brand, when in fact, brands don’t actually want to transact that way. They want a one-stop shop. So, we’ve done just that. We’ve plugged into all the programmatic channels, and we're seeing revenue.”

Pozin declined to disclose privately-held Telly’s average revenue per user but claimed it’s “many multiples higher than every single other OEM out there.”

In contrast to 2023, this year will be Telly’s “year of scale,” said Pozin. The CTV company has already signed a deal with Camelot Strategic Marketing & Media, the media agency recently acquired by PMG, and is part of a cross-industry advertising initiative organized by GroupM.

And Telly’s year of scale is set to kick off at CES. Pozin said Telly has over 120 meetings scheduled with agencies, advertisers and technology companies, calling the conference Telly’s Super Bowl.