Netflix’s new AI feature wants to pick your next obsession — here’s how AI Discover works

Here we are again: Netflix quietly having a go at reshaping how you browse for your next watch, and yes, this time it involves AI. As much as people like to joke about their recommendations already being algorithm-driven, they're now turning the dial up with something called AI Discover. It's currently rolling out to a handful of U.S. users, presumably to see how many of us will just let a machine speak for our tastes entirely.

Netflix's new AI Discover feature premieres today for a limited batch of TV users in the States.

Netflix Wants You to Discover (Or Is It Surrender?)

If you're among the chosen beta testers, you'll spot a shiny new Discover tab on your Netflix TV app, complete with a red gem and a ‘New’ badge – just in case you mistake it for an ordinary menu item and ignore it. At launch, it's English-language content for American viewers, but word is that they'll expand the experiment to more people and places in the coming weeks.

Here’s the gist of how it all works: once you select the Discover icon, a cheerful prompt pops up saying, 'Give me a moment while I find your next obsession.' (Already a bit ominous, if you ask me.) After that, you're handed a selection of premade themes – examples so far include 'Something Light', 'Scare Me', 'Workplace Comedy Favorites', 'Quick Watches', 'Family Movie Night', 'Family Scandal Sagas', and 'Royal Court Intrigue'. Honestly, do families actually sit around thinking, “Let’s watch a Family Scandal Saga”? Your mileage may vary.

How It Actually Picks Your Next Watch

Instead of endless scrolling, you pick one of the themes, each one with a little preview clip, and Netflix's AI lines up a batch of movie or TV recommendations in real time. Picks are supposedly tailored straight from your watch history and whatever’s trending. If none of the suggested titles appeals, you can click 'Something Different' to spin the wheel again, or refine the options with more specific themes.

• You get three buttons under each title: 'Play', 'My List', and the new one: 'Tune Your Recommendations'. That last one lets you give feedback on whether the algorithm got it right, or tell it never to show that title again.

The idea, clearly, is for AI Discover to help you side-step doom-scrolling and get to actual viewing faster – or perhaps, for Netflix to nudge you toward whatever its AI has decided is best. If you’ve ever wondered why your homepage looks the way it does, know that the thumbs-up or down you tap after each binge session is only part of the puzzle. Now, with AI Discover in the mix, there’s less pretense: the machines are in charge. Whether that's thrilling or slightly dystopian is sort of down to you.