Netflix said last year it was experimenting with and debuting some of its first shows produced with artificial intelligence. Now, the company is reporting that generative AI was used in roughly 300 of its programs this year, mostly across production and especially postproduction.
The disclosure was part of Netflix’s second-quarter earnings report (PDF), published Thursday. The company’s co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, framed the technology as a way to speed up work, cut costs and sometimes make shots that would otherwise be impossible.
“In many of the cases, productions would have left out those key shots because they just wouldn’t have been able to afford them, they wouldn’t have been able to do them in the time frames that they’re working on,” Sarandos said. “Those sequences are saved by the availability and access to these gen AI tools.”
The list of titles that used AI includes shows like Glory, a sports thriller set in India, and the docuseries The American Experiment. Sarandos underlined how creators making shows or movies for Netflix are using AI as a tool to build “complicated shots and sequences.”
At the same time, Sarandos framed AI as a creative assist rather than a replacement, arguing that great films still depend on human artists and that AI simply gives “creators better tools to bring their visions to life.”
Netflix has been increasingly open about adopting AI across areas such as content discovery and advertising, as well as animation production. In March, the streaming giant acquired the Ben Affleck-founded InterPositive, which it said would equip filmmakers with AI tools throughout the production process.
AI’s complicated role in movies and TV
Convulsive labor strikes by writers, actors and others in the industry shut down Hollywood productions in 2023 over the increasing threat of AI in replacing creative work and copyright issues. Since then, movie and TV studios, artists and craftspeople have been pushing back against the rapid evolution of AI technology.
Take, for example, the major backlash against AI-generated performers like Tilly Norwood, driven by fears of labor replacement, unauthorized use of human performances and a lack of genuine emotional depth. Big studios and unions have, in some instances, joined forces to rally against AI video generators that could supplant traditional video production. And a recent contract change for child voice performers on the hit cartoon Peppa Pig drew protests after reports that Hasbro asked actors to sign over rights for AI use of their voices.
Others in Hollywood, including Martin Scorsese, have hopped on the AI bandwagon. Meanwhile, studios and distributors (Netflix is both) are advancing live-action and animated projects that use AI for at least some elements of their production, even as questions remain about where they should draw the line.
Using AI behind the scenes
So far, there haven’t been any widely recognized big-budget films or TV shows made entirely by AI, or featuring fully AI-generated performers. But the use of the technology behind the scenes, as Netflix is doing, is the most important application in entertainment, argues A.K. Pradeep, CEO and founder of SensoriAI, which has been doing AI production work for television productions in India.
“Netflix is catching up to do this unsexy but super important job,” Pradeep told CNETbased on production, camera work, sound and good direction.”
Pradeep said that AI can be used as a tool to quickly make technical decisions, freeing directors to focus on the big picture. “Who should the camera focus on and when? What angles are best? What do ratings data tell us about what worked and what did not? Those are all things AI can do well, and it can be the difference between the next big hit and a flop,” he said.
