People are using AI to 'dumb down' their smart TVs. Is that a good idea?

Kevin Maimann · CBC News

· Posted: Oct 25, 2026 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

It's a very 2026 paradox.

Some tech users, fed up with constant surveillance, ads and other distractions, are using artificial intelligence to "dumb down" their smart devices.

Viral social media posts are showing people how to use AI coding prompts to hack and "debloat" smart TVs by removing unnecessary apps and programs and disabling some tracking features in an effort to make them run more smoothly.

While some are rejoicing, others warn the AI solution can cause bigger problems — and say there are easier, safer ways to simplify a cluttered TV.

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"My TV was updating all the time with different security features and that's because of all the apps and data collection that's required," Toronto-based tech analyst and cybersecurity expert Ritesh Kotak told CBC News.

"So yeah, here is a big push to make the TVs not as smart."

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An easy fix?

Some people have posted their coding scripts — sets of programming instructions carried out by AI agents — on the internet for others to copy.

One, called "dumbtv," was created by its developer to fix a Fire TV that had "become painful to use" because of constant ads on the home screen and apps taking too long to open.

Kotak says people are essentially using AI agents to help them identify their TV's IP address, then blocking certain traffic, like ads on TV home screens and analytics that get sent back to the company that makes the TV. 

Some say they had success with asking a Claude AI agent how to hack their TV and talk them through the process so they could do it themselves, an example of a process called "vibe coding."

But that hasn't worked for everyone. Some users are skeptical that Claude would even respond to that suggestion, and one said his attempt actually made his Android TV unusable.

Experts have urged people not to use these AI solutions, warning they could cause bigger problems. They also point to existing apps like Kyu Launcher and AT4K Launcher that can achieve similar results without the risk.

People 'starting to get fed up'

Tech-savvy individuals have long been hacking devices to customize them, but vibe-coding has opened that capability to a much wider audience, says London, Ont.-based tech analyst and journalist Carmi Levy.

For example, some people have used similar strategies to dumb down their smartphones, with the goal of making them less distracting and addictive.

But Levy warns that vibe coding is not for the "faint of heart," because people can inadvertently destroy their devices, void warranties or install the wrong kind of software.

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"It's definitely a 'your mileage may vary' type of scenario. Sometimes it'll work, sometimes it won't. Sometimes you'll end up breaking the very device that you're trying to update."

Levy says in the case of smart TVs, many of these changes can be made by simply tweaking the settings on the TV itself.

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While he doesn't necessarily recommend enlisting AI agents to do the job, Levy says this emerging trend is an understandable response to the surveillance and data collection that's increasingly invading consumer products.

"Every device that we buy has to be smart, every device we buy has to have an app and it has to collect all sorts of information," he said.

"I think, frankly, people are starting to get fed up with all of this data collection. And they're starting to react to this surveillance economy."

Security concerns

Kotak says one way to address these concerns is to use a Fire Stick or other multimedia streaming device loaded with the apps you want that plugs into a TV's HDMI port. Because these tools (which also include the Apple TV device) have their own Wi-Fi adapters, you can leave your TV offline so it will basically just function as a monitor for the streaming device.

He cautions that users should also consider that hacking their smart TV while leaving it connected to the internet could end up making them more vulnerable to outside attacks.

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Those annoying updates that keep popping up on your TV, he notes, are usually security-related.

"It's important to understand that a lot of smart TVs now also have microphones in them … My fear would be that is it possible for hackers to take over some of those features on your television," Kotak said.

"If your TV is going to be connected to the internet, and you're blocking certain services and you're not doing those updates, you may be making yourself vulnerable."