Netflix is going to make its ad breaks even more annoying with AI-generated garbage

2025-05-18 13:36:00
www.pcgamer.com

Netflix is continuing the time-honored tradition of making ads as annoying as possible to get you to shell out more money through the innovation of AI-generated slop.

At its annual meeting with advertisers last week, Netflix revealed plans to start showing AI-generated content to its ad-tier subscribers. These AI ads are slated to begin rolling out in 2026.

Amy Reinhard, Netflix’s President of Advertising, claimed during the meeting that “[Netflix] members pay as much attention to mid-roll ads as they do to the shows and movies themselves.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I have yet to meet someone who pays an ounce of attention to Netflix ads. Even the few ad connoisseurs out there will probably not appreciate an influx of AI-generated garbage interrupting their episodes of Stranger Things.

Alternately, Reinhard could be making an utterly damning statement about how much people care about their Netflix programming⁠—is the glass half-full, or half-empty here?

According to The Verge, Netflix reportedly wants to sneakily blend its AI slop into your shows with pause ads themed around the program you’re watching, featuring AI-generated content inserted in the scene or an AI-generated overlay over the screen.

It reminds me of the Cerveza Cristal beer ads that were cut into Chilean TV reruns of Star Wars, just minus the human touch⁠—Netflix’s proposal sounds low-rent in a trashy, rather than charming way.

It’s hard to say whether Netflix genuinely thinks this is a good idea that will improve their service (which seems intensely out of touch) or if they are simply trying to get more of their 94 million ad-tier subscribers to upgrade to their more expensive ad-free plan.

Regardless, this is yet another move that makes Netflix a less consumer-friendly platform as prices continue to rise and password sharing becomes a luxury of the past.

Personally, random AI-generated ads interrupting my favorite shows and movies will do nothing but annoy me (and probably be the final nail in the coffin of my cancelled Netflix subscription).

Maybe advertisers think an AI overlay demanding you buy something while watching Wednesday will boost consumer engagement, but I’m skeptical.

One has to wonder where the training data for these AI ads blended into your shows is going to come from. Will Netflix be showing an AI every show and movie on its platform so the algorithm can seamlessly generate product placements into whatever you’re watching?

If so, it raises serious concerns about the copyright protections of all the people behind those shows and movies, many of whom probably don’t want an AI consuming their work.

Ultimately, the fact that roughly a third of Netflix subscribers are choosing the least expensive option doesn’t mean that those people just enjoy watching ads⁠—it means they are either trying to save money or don’t see Netflix’s offerings as valuable enough to justify paying more.

Perhaps instead of shoveling AI slop into its streaming service, Netflix should invest more in new features that add value to that subscription price, like expanding Netflix Gaming or giving hit shows more than two or three seasons.

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