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Netflix has admitted to using generative AI in around 300 of its films and TV shows – without viewers knowing.
Key scenes that would not have been able to happen otherwise were made with artificial intelligence systems, the company has revealed.
The announcement came amid Netflix’s latest results, which showed a slowdown in revenue growth and led to concerns that the company could be failing to re-invent itself.
Netflix said that its creative partners’ use of AI was “scaling quickly” and that it was used in “roughly 300 of our titles, with the largest concentration of work in post-production”. “We are increasingly leveraging these tools to deliver higher quality output more quickly and at a lower cost than traditional methods”, it claimed.
The company claimed that the use of AI allowed it to include key scenes that would otherwise have been cut. It was used in The American Experiment as well as other titles “highly complex sequences”, Netflix said, such as crowds, battle sequences and establishing shots.
The company also said that it was using artificial intelligence technology to “create more personalised, immersive, and interactive experiences”. That includes using large language models to decide which titles to suggest and better search, it said.
The announcement was made in a letter to shareholders, seemingly aimed at encouraging investors by suggesting that it was adapting to new technology. But it came at a time of concern about the company – which has lost one of its founders as its co-CEO and is struggling to complete important acquisitions, all while dealing with falling revenue growth.
“Netflix is entering a period of reinvention,” said Ben Barringer, head of technology research at investment firm Quilter Cheviot. “Every few years it has a run of down quarters, and this looks to be no different as it aims to keep its disruptor status and the rest of the legacy media industry fighting for second place.
“Certainly, losing Reed Hastings takes a little shine off the company as he has been instrumental in the past at reinventing the company and the product it offers consumers. The company is looking at new types of content such as video podcasts and shorter form content, but has a fight on its hands with YouTube in this regard for viewer eyeballs.”
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