Netflix chief claims generative AI will make their content "better", and a show with a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score is already using it

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos thinks that generative AI won't just make the streamer's shows and movies cheaper to make – it'll make them better, too.

"We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper," Sarandos said during the company's Q2 results presentation (via The Hollywood Reporter).

"So this is real people doing real work with better tools. Our creators are already seeing the benefits in production through pre-visualization and shot planning work, and certainly visual effects."

Generative AI in filmmaking (and other creative industries) has been a topic of debate lately. Creatives are concerned with losing their work to algorithms, as well as issues of copyright (Disney and Universal recently called AI a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" after the two studios teamed up to sue AI company Midjourney). Oscar-nominated movie The Brutalist also came under fire earlier this year when it was revealed AI had been used in post-production.

One Netflix original has already used it, though. Argentinian sci-fi series The Eternaut was released this past April and, based on the comic book of the same name, follows the survivors of a deadly snowfall caused by alien forces. The show currently has a near-perfect score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sarandos highlighted one scene in the show that used generative AI to show a building collapsing in Buenos Aires, the first of its nature to be included in a Netflix original movie or show. "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," he said.

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