Artificial intelligence has invaded the group chat, conquered the office spreadsheet, and started giving your refrigerator unsolicited career advice. Hollywood, naturally, has already rolled out the red carpet for its newest silicon-powered guest.

Now Netflix wants AI to tackle humanity's greatest evening crisis: choosing something to watch before the popcorn goes cold. 

Netflix launched AI Discover on November 3, inviting a small group of U.S. subscribers to test a new tab on supported television apps. The experiment initially serves English-language viewers, with access expanding over the following weeks.

Viewers choose themes such as "Scare Me," "Something Light," "Family Movie Night," or "Quick Watches," each introduced with a video clip. The system responds with matching films and series, then offers narrower themes or a "Something Different" escape hatch.

Every recommendation includes a "Tune Your Recommendations" option beside Play and My List. Viewers can keep a pick or tell Netflix to stop suggesting it. The AI remembers that feedback within Discover, sparing subscribers repeated encounters with their least appealing television nemesis.

A red gem icon identifies the new tab. Behind the scenes, Netflix's in-house intelligence layer adapts to responses in real time. The company calls this experimental space a test kitchen, where successful ideas could eventually migrate into the main app.

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And Netflix's AI ambitions extend well beyond the remote control, with an Oscar-winning filmmaker joining the operation.

In March, Netflix acquired InterPositive, the artificial intelligence filmmaking company founded by Ben Affleck in 2022. The acquisition brought new highly specialized tools behind Netflix cameras. InterPositive develops tools for postproduction challenges, including missing shots, inconsistent lighting, and replacing backgrounds. 

Affleck created the company around a belief that creative judgment belongs to people. Its systems were trained to understand the visual logic of actual film production, while safeguards are intended to preserve artistic decisions. Netflix brought the company's team aboard and appointed Affleck senior adviser.

The streamer initially kept the purchase price under wraps. A later regulatory filing revealed $587 million in cash, according to TechCrunch. That is quite a hefty invoice for cinema's new gadget cabinet.

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Would you trust AI to pick tonight's entertainment, or does choosing a movie still deserve human supervision? Let us know in the comments.