Netflix just revealed AI-generated footage in a popular show for the first time – did you spot it?

Without realizing it, you may have already seen Netflix’s first foray into AI-generated content.

In its latest company earnings call, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos revealed that AI created part of a scene of a building collapsing in the new Netflix series The Eternaut, a post-apocalyptic drama about an alien invasion in Argentina.

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Sarandos framed the usage of generative AI tools as “an incredible opportunity” for creators to make content better and cheaper. “This is real people doing real work,” he explained, “with better tools,” adding that a VFX sequence of a building collapsing was completed “10 times faster than it could have been completed with traditional VFX tools and workflow.” 

Sarandos said filming the scene wouldn’t have been possible because it would have been far beyond this project’s budget. The scene would have been possible with visual effects; it would have just taken more time. 

While AI tools are common for creators in the entertainment industry, this marks the first time that Netflix has used AI-generated content in an original series or movie. Given how useful AI can be, simply using it in the process isn’t the problem here. AI isn’t going away. The issue is that it was used to create content (not assist), and viewers didn’t know until months later. 

I pulled up the scene to check it out for myself, and I wouldn’t have known it was made with AI (it’s in episode 6 of the show at the 59:50 mark if you want to see for yourself). Two shots, each maybe a second long, show large portions of a building falling to the ground. I can maybe tell things look a little strange if I pause and look closely, but especially since the shots in question are spliced quickly with real shots, it’s something I’d never see in real time.

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Netflix has experimented with AI in other areas. Two months ago, it introduced a new AI search feature that lets you describe what you want to watch in conversational terms. In May of this year, it introduced generative AI ads.

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