Netflix has confirmed it used AI on one of its series for the first time to produce visuals and fans have been left furious at the announcement.
It is no surprise that fans have been left less than happy due to the number of ethical concerns around AI, including a recent dark admission by ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman about what happens when you search using the platform.
Generative Artificial Intelligence has been a hotly debated topic in Hollywood, with it being a major factor in the recent writers strikes as they sought guarantees that their jobs would not be replaced with AI.
Netflix however has taken the first step in incorporating Gen-AI into their working by using it for a widely beloved mini-series which received a score of 96 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
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The show, called The Eternaut, is an Argentinian mini-series where a deadly snowstorm kills millions, leaving a small group of survivors to fend for themselves.
The series was a major success for Netflix, spending several weeks in the global top 10 and leading to a season two being announced.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos however has revealed that the show used generative AI as part of its production.
Sarandos spoke at an event yesterday where he delivered Netflix’s second quarter financial results and was expositing his view that the use of AI would be a game changer for the platform.
He claimed that it was not just about cost-cutting but that he actively believed that AI would allow filmmakers to make projects better ‘not just cheaper’.
The CEO went on to state it had been used to simulate a building collapsing in Buenos Aires in the show, stating that Netflix and Argentinian VFX artists had worked together on it.
He said: “Using AI-powered tools, they were able to achieve an amazing result with remarkable speed and, in fact, that VFX sequence was completed ten times faster than it could have been completed with traditional VFX tools and work flows.”
This marked the first time ever that generative AI has been used for visuals in a Netflix original title.
The only prior time that the tool had been used was to simulate the voice of Gabby Petito, a murder victim whose voice Netflix recreated using AI to read out her journal entries and texts for a documentary.
People online were less than pleased at the news, with one reply saying: “Slippery slope with this stuff in films imo.”
Another simply branded the news ‘sad’, whilst another replied on X saying: “You mean I gotta pay a subscription and watch ads for ai slop?”
One Netflix user responding to Sarandos’ quotes said: “This is a terrible idea, AI can’t put feeling into things, genuine emotion comes from human creation.”
Others were more open to the idea, with one fan replying saying: "Wow AI finally making it to mainstream Netflix shows. Curious to see how it turned out."
Personally, I'll definitely be much happier if AI and TV and film stay as far apart as possible.
Topics: Netflix, AI, Artificial Intelligence, TV and Film, Film, TV
Michael Slavin