Netflix is trying a new way to help subscribers decide what to watch, using artificial intelligence to make the discovery process more interactive.
The streaming platform has introduced AI Discover, an experimental feature that recommends films and television shows based on what viewers feel like watching rather than making them navigate rows of titles.
The idea is to make finding something entertaining less of a chore, particularly for subscribers who struggle to decide what to watch from the platform's extensive catalogue.
Instead of relying entirely on familiar genres, the feature presents themed suggestions that viewers can explore and refine. Netflix says the system can respond to user feedback in real time and adjust its recommendations accordingly.
However, there is a catch: the new experience is initially available to only a limited group of subscribers in the United States, with access restricted to English-language accounts on supported televisions. Netflix plans to gradually expand access over the coming weeks.
How Netflix AI Discover Changes Content Recommendations
AI Discover introduces a new tab in Netflix's television application, where subscribers can explore recommendations through a selection of themes. Rather than beginning with a traditional search box, the experience presents viewers with options that reflect their mood, viewing situation and available time.
Some of the initial themes include 'Something Light', 'Scare Me', 'Family Movie Night' and 'Quick Watches'. Others are designed around recently watched content or programmes that are attracting attention on the platform. Each theme comes with a preview clip from a film or television programme, giving subscribers an idea of what they might find before selecting it.
Once someone chooses a theme, Netflix generates a collection of matching recommendations. Viewers can then narrow their choices by exploring more specific themes or select 'Something Different' to receive another set of suggestions.
Every suggested title comes with a 'Tune Your Recommendations' button alongside the familiar 'Play' and 'My List' controls. Subscribers can use it to indicate that they like a recommendation or tell Netflix not to suggest a particular title again.
Netflix says AI Discover remembers this feedback within the new experience, meaning rejected suggestions should not keep appearing in subsequent recommendations. The company has also indicated that artificial intelligence helps generate the themes and explain why particular titles have been presented.
Netflix Has Tried To Fix Streaming Discovery Before
Although AI Discover is being presented as a new experiment, Netflix has spent years trying to make its catalogue easier to navigate. The company already uses a recommendation system that considers viewing history, ratings, programme information and the behaviour of subscribers with similar tastes.
It also takes account of factors such as the time of day, preferred languages, the devices people use and how long they watch particular titles.
This is not Netflix's first attempt to use an interactive assistant for the same purpose. In 2013, the company began rolling out Max, a virtual recommendation assistant for its PlayStation 3 application.
It asked users questions about their moods and entertainment preferences before suggesting films and television programmes. The experiment offered an early example of Netflix trying to make content discovery feel more like a conversation than browsing a catalogue.
The company also moved towards generative AI search in 2025, announcing an experimental feature developed with OpenAI. The tool allowed subscribers to search using everyday language, including requests describing the type of entertainment they wanted.
For example, someone could ask for something funny and upbeat without needing to know a particular title or genre. The initial experiment was an opt-in beta for a limited group of iOS users. That approach was different from the theme-based starting point of AI Discover, which currently asks viewers to select from options presented on screen.
There is also an important distinction between what Netflix has announced and what subscribers can expect from the first version. AI Discover is not being introduced as a fully open-ended chatbot that can answer any entertainment-related question.
Its initial experience revolves around selecting themes, refining the resulting suggestions and providing feedback on individual titles.
Netflix describes the new section as a testing environment where it will experiment with different ways of helping subscribers find content. Feedback will help the company decide which ideas deserve further development, and some features could eventually become part of its main streaming experience.
That means the current version should not necessarily be treated as the finished product.
For viewers, the bigger question is whether these recommendations will actually make choosing something easier. A system that responds to whether someone wants a short programme, a family-friendly film or something frightening could reduce the effort involved in finding suitable entertainment.
However, its usefulness will depend on the quality of its suggestions and how well its themes reflect what people are looking for.
Netflix has not yet demonstrated that AI Discover will eliminate the familiar browsing problem. For now, it is testing another way to connect subscribers with its catalogue, while giving them more direct control over the recommendations they receive.
