Netflix goes ‘all in’ on generative AI as entertainment industry remains divided

As the entertainment industry considers when and how to use generative AI in filmmaking, Netflix is ​​leaning in. In its quarterly earnings report released Tuesday afternoon, Netflix wrote Letter to Investors that it is “very well positioned to effectively leverage ongoing advances in AI.”

Netflix doesn’t plan to use generative AI as the backbone of its content but believes the technology has potential as a tool to make creative more efficient.

“It takes a great artist to do great things,” Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said on Tuesday’s earnings call. “AI can give creatives better tools to enhance their overall TV/movie experience for our members, but it doesn’t automatically make you a great storyteller if you’re not.”

Earlier this year, Netflix said so Generative AI is used The final footage marks the first time the Argentinian show “The Eternity” has created a scene of a building collapsing. Since then, the filmmakers behind “Happy Gilmore 2” used generative AI to make characters look younger in the film’s opening scenes, while the producers of “Billionaire’s Bunker” used the technology as a pre-production tool to envision costumes and set designs.

“We are confident that AI will help us and our creative partners tell stories better, faster and in new ways,” said Sarandos. “We’re all in it, but we’re not chasing innovation for innovation’s sake here.”

AI has been a Controversial matter In the entertainment industry, artists are concerned that LLM-powered tools that non-consensually use their work as training data have the potential to negatively impact their work.

With Netflix as a bellwether, it seems that studios are more likely to use generative AI for special effects than to replace actors’ roles — even if a you are an actor Recently there has been a stir among Hollywood actors, though no gigs have been booked yet (that we know of). These behind-the-scenes uses of AI still have the potential to influence visual effects work.

These controversies escalated recently when ChatGPT-maker unveiled OpenAI Sora 2 Audio and video generation model, which was released without the fence that prevents users from creating videos of certain actors and historical figures. This week the Hollywood trade organization SAG-AFTRA and actor Bryan Cranston Requested by OpenAI Putting stronger guards against deepfaking actors like Cranston.

When an investor asked Sarandos about Sora’s impact on Netflix, he said it “starts to make sense” that content creators might be affected, but he’s less worried about the movie and TV business — or so he told investors.

“We’re not worried about AI replacing creativity,” he said.

Netflix’s quarterly revenue rose 17% year-over-year to $11.5 billion, though it fell short of the company’s forecast.