Netflix reveals just how much AI now powers its movies and shows

Netflix has always loved a techy shortcut, but lately, their embrace of artificial intelligence has gone from curious dabbling to full-on integration. Experimental? Not anymore. AI is now stitched right into the very fabric of hundreds of Netflix productions, and the company is quite chuffed to tell you how that’s going.

A Quick Look at Netflix’s AI Strategy

If you’ve watched anything on Netflix this year and noticed massive crowds, fancy VFX, or gargantuan battle scenes, there’s a fair chance a computer helped beef it up. According to their latest earnings report, nearly 300 titles across Netflix’s catalogue in the past year leaned on generative AI at some stage of production. And we’re not just talking about fiddling with CGI – AI is showing up everywhere from early planning, storyboarding, and previsualisation all the way to polishing up the bits before release. That’s not subtle, is it?

Where All This AI Is Actually Showing Up

Netflix specifically name-dropped a few projects where AI has been doing some heavy lifting:

• Glory – the Indian sports drama with AI-amplified crowd scenes
• Brasil 70: A Saga do Tri – more of the same, but with Brazilian football flair
• The American Experiment – a documentary where AI apparently whipped up more detailed battle sequences and bigger crowds than would otherwise fit the budget

They’re claiming the tech has allowed teams to build huge scenes that might not have even been finished by old-school means. Essentially: more on screen, for less dosh, and without the rushed feeling you sometimes get when the money runs low.

Beyond Pretty Pictures

This isn’t all about flashier visuals, either. Behind the scenes, AI is tweaking the content recommendations you see, jazzing up advertising, and even getting stuck in with animation. So if you’re sick of being recommended stuff you’ve already watched, that too is AI – for better or worse.

Netflix is doubling down further by snapping up Ben Affleck’s production company, InterPositive, which is apparently teeming with more gadgets and tools for creators. The partnership, per Co-CEO Ted Sarandos, is new but already helping out Netflix’s in-house teams.

So, Is Human Creativity at Risk?

Sarandos seems keen to convince everyone this won’t end in a robot takeover. He called AI 'a creative assistant, not a filmmaker replacement.' He mentioned that The American Experiment had 17 minutes of AI-powered footage, which meant the team wrapped up those scenes in about half the time at roughly half the expected cost. But, and this is the kind of thing you say to keep directors calm, Sarandos still insists that quality storytelling comes down to actual talent; AI is just another tool for the artists.

Sarandos: 'AI is a creative assistant, not a replacement. Real storytelling depends on talented filmmakers – AI just makes some bits faster and cheaper.'

Meanwhile, On the Money Side

It’s not just the technology that’s booming – revenue is healthy too. Netflix just posted quarterly earnings of $12.56 billion — which, if you’re counting, is up over 13 percent from the same time last year. Net income hit $3.4 billion. Evidently, the pivot to AI isn’t hurting the bottom line.