Netflix has supplied its media production collaborators with additional guidelines for employing generative AI as the company increasingly leverages AI technology. The entertainment powerhouse’s newly released generative AI guidelines, published in its Partner Help Center last week, delineate low-risk and high-risk scenarios for integrating AI-enhanced tools or utilizing entirely AI-generated content in media available on Netflix. According to reports by The Wrap, Netflix emphasizes its commitment to safeguarding personal information and creative rights, adhering to legal standards for traditional content, honoring performers, and fostering audience trust.

“At Netflix, we perceive these tools as essential creative assistants when operated transparently and ethically,” the company stated. Netflix also recognized the ongoing AI-related stipulations from Hollywood’s unions, urging creators to ensure their work “does not supplant or significantly affect tasks usually performed by union-represented individuals, including actors, writers, or crew, without appropriate permissions or agreements.”

Essentially, the company formulates a collection of criteria that determine if the use of generative AI should be escalated to higher management or merely “socialized”:

– The outputs do not duplicate or significantly recreate recognizable traits of unowned or copyrighted material, nor infringe any copyright-protected creations.
– The generative tools employed do not store, reuse, or train on production data inputs or outputs.
– Whenever feasible, generative tools operate within an enterprise-secured environment to protect inputs.
– Generated content is transient and not included in the final deliverables.
– GenAI is not employed to substitute or produce new performances of talent or work covered by unions without permission.

Netflix faced criticism in 2024 for the revealed use of generative AI in the true crime documentary What Jennifer Did. Earlier this year, the streaming service admitted to using generative AI in its post-apocalyptic original The Eternaut, replacing the work of a conventional VFX studio with “AI-powered tools.” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos lauded the choice, stating the result was ten times quicker than traditional methods. This marked the first instance of generative AI final footage being featured in a Netflix original series or film.

In the meantime, Netflix may be introducing AI-generated advertisements in the platform’s lower-priced tiers, a strategy that the company’s advertising president described as a fusion of Netflix’s entertainment and technological capabilities.