Netflix Calls Its New AI Discover Feature a 'Test Kitchen' to Tailor Viewers' Recommendations

Netflix is rolling out a new AI-powered feature with the aim of helping viewers pick what to watch when they can’t decide.

We’ve all been there; like Clueless’s Cher looking into her closet and exclaiming in dismay that there’s simply "nothing to wear," there are certainly times when it seems like streaming services have lots of shows and movies on offer, but nothing that’s appealing in the immediate moment.

Netflix is attempting to help with this conundrum with its latest tool, titled AI Discover. Announced on November 3, it sits on the top bar of the TV app on the far right. Open it up, and Netflix’s AI will conjure up a few themes to choose from.

The streamer’s example of this includes themes like Outsmart Everyone, Family Scandal Sagas, and Royal Court Intrigue. As told in an explainer on Netflix’s website, some of these themes match “how you want to feel,” the people you’re watching with, or how much time you have, while others are based around your recent watch history or more popular trending picks.

After choosing one of these themes, Netflix’s AI will bring up similar recommendations, presenting more specific themes until the perfect show or movie arises. And if you’re simply not finding anything interesting, you can refresh your search by choosing ‘Something Different.’

Similar to Netflix’s My List option, you can also hit a ‘Tune Your Recommendations’ button, which sits next to your list and Play. This will let you save a recommendation from the AI, or tell it not to recommend a show you aren’t interested in seeing.

In an official statement, Netflix described the tool as its “test kitchen,” saying that it’s “trying out new recipes for discovery, and your use and feedback help us decide which ones to keep, improve, or serve up next. Some may even make their way into the main Netflix experience.”

“What we’re most excited about is how it feels to use,” the statement continues. “Tell us what you’re after, and the experience adjusts. Tell us a recommendation isn’t for you, and we’ll remember it in AI Discover, so it won’t keep turning up. AI Discover is powered by a new intelligence layer we’ve been building that responds to what members tell us in real time and keeps learning.”

AI Discover is rolling out to US-based members who use the service in English on supported TVs, and will gradually release for more users over the coming weeks.

Netflix is the latest of several major streaming services and entertainment platforms to add AI features in its product; Spotify went so far as to introduce AI DJs that will mix music for you, while Roku infamously added a 24/7 AI channel with series that are totally generated with artificial intelligence. Netflix, for its part, simply wants to better tailor viewers’ recommendations, though we’ll see what the public sentiment ends up looking like as more subscribers use it.