Netflix doesn’t hide anymore. Last year, the streaming giant admitted it was testing the waters with artificial intelligence in production. Fast forward to Thursday’s second-quarter earnings call, and the leak becomes a flood. Ted Sarandos, co-CEO at Netflix, confirmed that generative AI helped shape roughly 300 programs released this year.
It’s not magic. It’s logistics.
The AI work isn’t about creating movies from nothing. It’s mostly happening in the messy middle—production and, crucially, post-production. The goal is simple: move faster. Spend less. Achieve what would have previously cost millions or required years of prep work.
“In many cases, productions would have omitted key shots,” Sarandos noted. They couldn’t afford the budget. The timelines didn’t exist. Gen AI tools stepped in where the ledger fell short. These sequences, previously left on the cutting room floor, are now preserved and visible on your screens.
Which shows actually use Netflix’s AI tools?
You aren’t watching everything via algorithm-generated pixels, but specific hits show up in the list.
Titles include the Indian sports thriller Glory and the documentary series The American Experiment. Creators are using the software to construct “complicated shots and sequences.” It is a tool, Sarandos insists, not a replacement for the human imagination.
This stance feels like defensive positioning. Hollywood isn’t exactly warming to the tech with open arms. The 2023 strikes by writers, actors, and crews shut down massive productions over fear of obsolescence and copyright theft. Since the walkouts, the pushback has been fierce.
Take the recent controversy surrounding AI-generated performer Tilly Norwood. Viewers pushed back hard against the idea of digital humans replacing real talent. Big unions are rallying. They are fighting to stop AI video generators from supplanting traditional cameras on set. Then there was the Peppa Pig situation, where Hasbro reportedly asked child voice actors to sign over rights for potential AI usage of their voices. It sparked protests.
Yet, some directors keep climbing on the bandwagon. Martin Scorsese is among them. Netflix, of course, is both a studio and a distributor, advancing live-action projects with AI elements even as the industry draws sharp, often unclear lines on where to stop.
In March, Netflix acquired InterPositive, founded by Ben Affleck. The deal was marketed as equipping filmmakers with AI tools across the production pipeline. It is also using AI in content discovery and animation.
How Netflix uses AI behind the scenes
Despite the headlines, there are no widely recognized big-budget blockbusters created entirely by AI. Fully AI-generated lead performers don’t exist in the mainstream theater or streaming library yet. The real action is in the weeds.
A.K. Pradeep, founder of SensoriAI which has worked with television production in India, calls this application “unsexy but super important.”
Shows win or die by camera work. By sound. By direction.
Pradeep argues that AI allows for rapid technical decisions. Directors stop wrestling with the minutiae and can focus on the “big picture.” Who does the camera focus on? At which moment? Which angles serve the story?
“Those are all things AI can do… It can be the difference between the next hit and a total flop.”
Ratings data, processed instantly, can guide these choices. Is this a way to empower the crew or just squeeze out marginal efficiencies?
Maybe both. Sarandos says AI gives creators “better tools” to realize their vision. The studio gets to cut costs. The viewer gets shots they otherwise wouldn’t see.
But who controls the final frame? As the 300 titles proliferate, the line between human artifice and digital convenience grows thinner. You probably didn’t notice the AI.
Or did you?
