Netflix Tests AI Discover Tab on TV App for Theme-Based Recommendations

Netflix is adding an AI-powered recommendation tool called AI Discover to its TV app. The feature is meant to help viewers stop scrolling and find shows and movies more quickly. Netflix framed AI Discover as a testbed for new features that it might make part of the core Netflix experience.

Theme-based recommendations

If AI Discover is available on an account, users see a Discover tab with a red gem icon on the top navigation bar. The first feature Netflix is trying is theme-based recommendations, which display an array of themes along with a relevant clip from a show or movie. Themes can reflect who a viewer might be watching with, what they are in the mood for, or titles that will not take up an entire evening. They can also include new and popular shows and movies, as well as recommendations based on recent viewing.

Refining results

After choosing an option, users can refine recommendations with more specific themes. They can also refresh the selection of themes that AI Discover serves up. Users can tell Netflix not to recommend a title again, which should help refine recommendations and block unwanted titles. Titles can be added to a list from AI Discover. Netflix said AI helps create the themes and explains results along the way, and that AI Discover is powered by a new intelligence layer that responds to what members say in real time and keeps learning.

Availability and history

AI Discover is initially available on supported TVs in English in the US. Netflix said it will gradually make the tool available to more people in the coming weeks. AI Discover will not appear on kids profiles, according to Variety. Netflix has introduced many recommendation features over the years, including a shuffle play option a few years back and an OpenAI-powered chatbot tested during a redesign last year. Long-time users might remember the Max tool from more than a decade ago.

Sources: Engadget · TechCrunch · The Verge