Netflix has released guidelines for its media-making partners on the use of generative AI, aiming to strike a balance between innovation and responsible practices in its productions.
The guidelines, published on the Partner Help Center, outline both low-risk and high-risk scenarios for using AI tools or entirely AI-generated content. According to Netflix, the importance of protecting personal data, upholding creative rights, ensuring legal compliance, respecting performers, and maintaining audience trust cannot be overstated. “At Netflix, we see these tools as valuable creative aids when used transparently and responsibly,” the company stated.
The guidelines also address concerns raised by Hollywood’s unions, urging creatives to ensure that AI’s use “does not replace or materially impact work typically done by union-represented individuals, including actors, writers, or crew members, without proper approvals or agreements.” To achieve this, Netflix has established standards for determining when generative AI use needs to be escalated for review.
These standards include ensuring that AI outputs do not replicate or substantially recreate identifiable characteristics of unowned or copyrighted material, or infringe on any copyright-protected works. Additionally, the guidelines state that the generative tools used should not store, reuse, or train on production data inputs or outputs. Netflix also recommends using generative tools in an enterprise-secured environment to safeguard inputs, where possible, and treating generated material as temporary and not part of the final deliverables. Furthermore, the use of GenAI to replace or generate new talent performances or union-covered work without consent is to be avoided.
Netflix faced criticism earlier in 2024 for its use of generative AI in the documentary *What Jennifer Did*. The platform also acknowledged using AI in *The Eternaut*, a post-apocalyptic series, where it replaced the work of a traditional VFX house with AI-powered tools. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos commented that using AI in *The Eternaut* resulted in a ten-fold increase in speed compared to traditional methods. *The Eternaut* marked the first instance of generative AI final footage being incorporated into a Netflix original series or film.
In a related development, Netflix is considering adding AI-generated ads to its lowest-priced subscription tiers, a move that the company’s advertising president described as a convergence of Netflix’s entertainment and technological capabilities.
