Netflix is ​​’all in’ leveraging AI in its streaming platform

Netflix According to the company, it is “all in” on leveraging generative artificial intelligence on its streaming platform, as AI continues to enter mainstream entertainment.

The comments came on the heels of Netflix’s earnings report on Tuesday, which highlighted AI as a key focus for the world’s largest streaming service by subscriber base.

“For years now, (machine learning) and AI have been powering our title recommendations as well as production and ad technology,” Netflix said in a letter. letter to shareholders.

Netflix added that generative AI presents a “significant opportunity” to its streaming platform, including improving its recommendations, advertising business and movie and TV content.

“We’re empowering creators with a broad set of GenAI tools to help them achieve their visions and deliver even more impressive titles for subscribers,” it said.

Netflix provided a recent example of this, noting that in the recently distributed film Happy Gilmore 2, it used generative AI tools to help characters age less. Meanwhile, the makers of the Netflix series Billionaire’s Bunker have used various generative AI tools to explore wardrobe and set designs during pre-production.

Worry about replacing AI

Netflix’s comments come amid broader concerns about the potential for AI to replace human workers in the entertainment and arts world, and the technology’s use of human-created content.

Speaking during the earnings call, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos addressed these issues, noting that AI can enhance the entire TV and movie experience, but “doesn’t automatically make you a great storyteller if you’re not.”

“We’re confident that AI will help us and our creative partners tell stories better, faster and in new ways – we’re all in,” Sarandos said. He added: “We’re not worried about AI replacing creativity.”

However, many in the entertainment industry are skeptical about AI and its growing presence in the media.

An upstart production studio called Particle6 recently faced a backlash from media union SAG-AFTRA for its plan to create, design, manage and monetize AI-generated actors and talent.

SAG-AFTRA had previously provided significant leadership Artists strike in July 2023Concerns about the use of artificial intelligence have come to the fore in a wide-ranging series of Hollywood labor disputes.

The strike lasted more than 100 days before SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached a tentative agreement, which included the establishment of contractual AI protections for film and TV actors for the first time.

To encourage responsible use of such AI tools, Netflix recently released a new AI-centric product guidance addressed to its creators.