Artificial intelligence has reached every corner of daily life, from writing assistants to personalized shopping, and Hollywood has begun applying it to production workflows as well. Netflix, a company built on algorithmic recommendations, is now expanding that approach with generative AI designed to help subscribers find a movie or series for their mood.

Its newest experiments could replace simple keyword searches with a more natural conversation about what someone actually wants to watch.

Turning Netflix browsing into something closer to asking a friend for a recommendation.

Netflix is testing a conversational interface that lets viewers speak to the service about what they want to watch instead of relying solely on title names or broad genre labels. Ritwik Kumar, Netflix vice president of AI strategy and innovation, told Fortune that early pilots revealed users often had plenty to say once the platform invited a dialogue.

“In this generative AI era, we have quite a strong conviction and growing body of evidence that we could do way better for our members when it comes to getting them the right piece of content they would fall in love with at the right moment,” says Kumar.

Someone could describe a light mystery, a tense thriller, or an easy watch after a long day, then refine the results through follow-up prompts. Kumar shared with Fortune that the voice allows viewers to communicate mood and intent with nuance, giving the recommendation system richer context for each request.

The goal for viewers is to make a catalog feel less overwhelming by surfacing something that fits the moment. Netflix is also testing AI-enabled advertising that can match an ad's tone to the program being watched, including ads referencing a paused title such as Stranger Things.

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That discovery push is only one part of Netflix's AI strategy, because the company is already bringing the technology deeper into filmmaking itself.

Netflix's investment became impossible to ignore in March when it acquired InterPositive, the AI filmmaking company founded by Ben Affleck. Netflix's SEC filing later disclosed an acquisition completed that month for approximately $587 million in cash, while Variety linked the figure to InterPositive. The deal brought the startup's 16-person team into Netflix and made Affleck a senior adviser.

InterPositive was built around AI tools designed for filmmakers, with Netflix describing the company's mission as expanding creative choice while keeping storytellers at the center of the process. Its technology can use production footage to assist post-production tasks, including relighting shots, mixing, and visual-effects work.

The scale is significant. Netflix said creative partners had used generative AI workflows across roughly 300 titles in 2026, with most activity happening in post-production. Netflix says these tools are designed to assist artists, with human creators remaining responsible for the work.

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What do you think about Netflix turning recommendations into conversations and expanding AI behind the scenes? Let us know in the comments.