Netflix adds an AI Discover tab to pick shows by mood
Netflix has started rolling out "AI Discover", a tab that asks what you feel like watching and builds the answer from there.
A limited first rollout
Access is narrow for now. The tab is reaching users in the U.S. who run Netflix in English on supported TVs. Netflix says more people will get it in the coming weeks.
On a TV with access, a "Discover" button appears in the top navigation bar. It carries a red gem icon and a "New" label.
Netflix calls it a test kitchen
The company describes AI Discover as its "test kitchen," a place where it will "try out new recipes for discovery." The tab is a lab, not a finished product.
Viewer feedback is the filter. Netflix says it will use that feedback to decide which features to keep or improve, and only then bring them to the main Netflix experience.
The company framed the tab against its older tools in a blog post. It pointed to years of work on recommendations shaped by what members rate with a Thumbs Up or save to "My List." AI Discover, it wrote, joins that mix as a new way to explore.
Themes built from clips
The first feature in the tab works on mood. Instead of a grid of posters, a viewer sees curated themes made of clips from shows and movies. Netflix says the themes reflect mood, viewing preferences, the time a person has, or what is new and trending.
The examples given are "something light," "scare me," "family movie night" and "quick watches." Picking one brings up matching recommendations.
The search can narrow further. A viewer can select more specific themes until something looks right, or choose "something different" to start over.
Teaching the service your taste
Each title carries a "Tune Your Recommendations" button, placed beside "Play" and "My List." With it, a viewer can save a recommendation they like. They can also exclude a title they do not want suggested again.
Netflix says the tab runs on a new intelligence layer it has been building. The layer takes in what users tell the platform as they use the tab, and it keeps learning.
Our view
Mood is a hard signal to read from watch history alone, so asking for it directly is a sensible bet. The tab also gives Netflix a stream of explicit choices, which is a different kind of data from clicks. What is unclear is how many viewers will use a separate tab, and which of these ideas reach the main interface. Netflix says feedback will decide that.
Source: TechCrunch