Netflix has made its most definitive transfer but into AI-generated content material, publicly confirming for the primary time that it used generative synthetic intelligence to create remaining VFX footage in one in every of its authentic productions. The revelation, disclosed in the course of the firm’s quarterly earnings name, marks a big escalation within the streaming big’s embrace of AI expertise – and indicators a possible watershed second for the {industry}.
The AI-generated sequence seems in El Eternauta (The Eternaut), an Argentinian science fiction sequence following survivors of a poisonous snowfall. Netflix’s inside manufacturing crew labored with VFX artists to make use of AI instruments for making a constructing collapse scene in Buenos Aires – a fancy sequence that will historically require intensive conventional results work.
VFX sequence accomplished 10 instances quicker with AI
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos didn’t mince phrases in regards to the effectivity positive factors: the AI-powered method accomplished the VFX sequence “10 instances quicker than it might have been accomplished with conventional VFX instruments and workflows.” Extra considerably for budget-conscious productions, he emphasised that “the price of it simply wouldn’t have been possible for a present in that price range.”
This represents precisely the form of democratization of high-end VFX that we’ve been monitoring in our earlier AI protection—the expertise lastly reaching some extent the place it could actually ship broadcast-quality outcomes for mid-tier productions that will in any other case be priced out of subtle results work.
Past cost-cutting: Netflix’s broader AI imaginative and prescient
Sarandos was cautious to place this not merely as a cost-saving measure however as a artistic enhancement. “We stay satisfied that AI represents an unimaginable alternative to assist creators make movies and sequence higher, not simply cheaper,” he advised analysts, echoing arguments we’ve heard from AI proponents all through the {industry}.
The streaming platform is implementing AI throughout a number of fronts. Co-CEO Greg Peters revealed that Netflix is deploying generative AI in personalization, search, and promoting, and plans to roll out interactive adverts later this yr. For filmmakers, maybe extra related is Sarandos’ assertion that “our creators are already seeing the advantages in manufacturing by way of pre-visualisation and shot planning work, and definitely visible results.”
The labor query resurfaces
As we’ve extensively lined, AI adoption in leisure stays fraught with labor issues. The 2023 Hollywood strikes, the place AI was a central sticking level, resulted in agreements designed to maintain the expertise beneath human management quite than changing employees solely.
Netflix seems aware of this sensitivity. Sarandos emphasised that “that is actual folks doing actual work with higher instruments,” framing AI as augmentation quite than substitute. Whether or not this messaging will fulfill {industry} professionals stays to be seen, notably given the 10x velocity enchancment Netflix reported – positive factors that inevitably elevate questions on workforce implications.
The timing is especially notable. Simply because the {industry} has begun to stabilize post-strikes, with new protocols for AI use nonetheless being established, Netflix’s public embrace of the expertise for remaining footage represents a big take a look at of these agreements.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos. Picture credit score: AP
A historical past of quiet implementation
Whereas Netflix positions this as their first use of generative AI, {industry} observers have lengthy suspected the corporate was already using the expertise. Earlier controversies included suspected AI picture manipulation within the true crime documentary What Jennifer Did and the infamous upscaling of a Eighties sitcom that produced distorted, nightmare-fuel imagery.
The importance of Netflix’s announcement might lie much less in being their “first” AI use and extra within the firm’s willingness to publicly defend and promote the observe. This transparency represents a strategic shift from secretive implementation to open advocacy – a transfer that can possible strain different studios to make clear their very own AI insurance policies.
Trade implications {and professional} response
For working VFX professionals, Netflix’s announcement crystallizes each the promise and menace of AI instruments. The expertise clearly provides unprecedented artistic potentialities and price range efficiencies, notably for productions that beforehand couldn’t afford subtle results. The 10x velocity enchancment alone might rework challenge timelines and open new artistic alternatives.
Nonetheless, the speedy adoption tempo raises critical questions on {industry} requirements, high quality management, and long-term employment impacts. If a constructing collapse sequence – historically requiring weeks of conventional VFX work – can now be accomplished in days with AI instruments, what does that imply for VFX homes and their workforces?
The skilled neighborhood’s response can be essential. In contrast to earlier technological shifts that developed step by step, AI’s speedy development is compressing adaptation timelines. Studios and artists should concurrently grasp new instruments whereas navigating evolving labor agreements and high quality requirements.
“El Eternauta”, a brand new sequence on Netflix. Picture credit score: Netflix
The broader context
Netflix’s transfer comes as the corporate reported sturdy quarterly outcomes, with $11 billion in income representing a 16% year-over-year improve. The success of exhibits like Squid Recreation’s remaining season demonstrates that audiences stay centered on compelling storytelling quite than manufacturing methodology – a actuality that will give studios extra confidence to experiment with AI instruments.
As we’ve famous in earlier protection, the AI debate typically obscures a elementary query: can these instruments improve storytelling whereas preserving the human artistry that makes content material compelling? Netflix’s El Eternauta experiment represents an early take a look at case.
And like I’ve predicted on the CineD Focus Examine podcast earlier than, Netflix actually is the primary main streamer to publicly embrace generative video – I feel subsequent we’ll see a wholly generated sequence, possible animation first.
What comes subsequent, and the way filmmakers can prepare
Netflix’s public endorsement of AI for remaining footage manufacturing will possible speed up industry-wide adoption. Different streaming platforms and studios will face rising strain to make clear their very own AI methods, notably as value pressures intensify throughout the {industry}.
For filmmakers, the problem now could be figuring out the way to combine these highly effective new capabilities whereas sustaining the artistic imaginative and prescient and human craftsmanship that stay central to driving storytelling. That’s why we now have began a brand new course sequence on MZed, “The Environment friendly Filmmaker” – which can include a sequence of quick programs that are supposed to speed up your artistic work, not exchange it. The primary course was launched already, and two extra are in post-production; extra ones are being produced as we communicate. Our objective is to deliver filmmakers up-to-speed with developments so they’re prepared for the long run unfolding in entrance of our eyes.
The expertise clearly works – Netflix’s 10x effectivity enchancment proves that. The query is whether or not the {industry} can harness AI’s potential whereas preserving the collaborative, human-centered course of that has outlined filmmaking for over a century.
As Sarandos concluded, these instruments are “serving to creators develop the probabilities of storytelling on display screen.” Whether or not that growth in the end advantages or diminishes the artwork kind will rely largely on how thoughtfully the {industry} approaches this new chapter in manufacturing expertise.
What’s your tackle Netflix’s embrace of AI for his or her productions? Tell us within the feedback beneath.
