At this point in the game we all know full well that Netflix is betting on AI, like the rest of its competitors, putting the pedal to the metal to squeeze out whatever profit they can before the bubble bursts, people get fed up with the little machine and tell it to go to hell. The problem is that it’s already embedded in the entire production system, and not only that: on top of that, they’ve based a large part of their user experience on us being wowed by what it’s capable of recommending to us.
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In the middle of an engagement crisis (even though they keep gaining subscriptions, users are spending less and less time watching Netflix), the streamer has decided to launch, as a test, AI search, where you can explore content based on different themes (“Scare Me”, “Workplace Comedy Favorites”, “Quick Watch”, “Family Movie Night”, etcetera). The difference from other collections is that the content won’t be pre-curated, but rather the titles will be recommended in real time based on what you’ve watched and your preferences.
Oh, and, of course, also based on what’s doing well on the platform at that moment. Come on, they’re going to slip you the greatest hits just like they try to do now, only using AI as an excuse. AI Discover, which is what the contraption is called, for now will be available to a small number of U.S. households to test its effectiveness and whether there really is demand for something like this, but they already plan to roll it out in other countries and languages over time. Exciting, huh?
Netflix itself doesn’t want to stick its neck out about whether it’ll stay or not: “Think of AI Discover as our test kitchen: we’re making new recipes so you can discover new content, and how you use it and your feedback will help us know which ones to keep, how to improve them, or move on from them. Some may even make their way into the Netflix experience”. Just what most people wanted: more AI. Anyway.
