SAN JOSE: Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in around 300 Netflix titles this year alone, the video streaming market leader has said.
AI is now being used to generate "highly complex sequences" including crowd scenes and shots of historical battles, co-chief executive Ted Sarandos said in a quarterly earnings update on July 16.
In many cases, he argued, such segments would never have been filmed at all without artificial intelligence, due to cost or time constraints. At the same time, Sarandos said that AI was merely a tool in the hands of creative people.
"Movies are being made by people who make movies. AI provides them with better tools to make them even better," Sarandos said.
His remarks echo previous statements on the increasing use of AI-generated or AI-modified footage in Netflix content, and at the end of April, Sarandos said AI software was already being used for special effects – but that the company was only scratching the surface.
Netflix previously bought InterPositive, a company founded by Hollywood star Ben Affleck that specialises in AI tools for filmmakers, in early March. Artificial intelligence is also now used in the programme recommendations that users see on the Netflix platform.
The use of AI is currently a pain point in Hollywood. Studios see great potential for cost savings, while creatives fear that people could gradually be pushed out of the business.
The use of AI was a central issue in the 2023 Hollywood strikes, as screenwriters and actors fear that studios could replace them with software in the future. By pushing further into AI-assisted production, Netflix could increase pressure on rival streaming services and studios.
James Cameron, the blockbuster director of Titanic and Avatar, said in 2025 that the use of AI in Hollywood could become essential. If blockbuster films with special effects are to continue, he said, production costs must be halved.
Netflix previously said it had begun using AI-generated footage in its content and said last year that a scene in the Argentinian series El Eternauta, in which a building in Buenos Aires collapses, was created using AI.
In its July earnings report, Netflix also said it would give updates on the popularity of its films and series only once a year, rather than twice. – dpa
