Netflix and Prime Video plan AI homepages — users push back

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Prime Video and Netflix are planning new AI-generated homepages

Netflix revealed its 'GenPage' tests ahead of a new Prime Video report

Viewers aren't convinced that homepages are moving in the right direction

You're about to see a lot more generative AI in your streaming apps: Netflix has posted details of testing that it's doing with generative AI on its homepage, while Reuters reports that Amazon Prime Video is set for an AI-driven overhaul as well.

Starting with Netflix, the company has revealed it's working on a way of using generative AI to do a lot of the heavy lifting on the app homepage. That includes figuring out which recommendations each user should see, adapting to feedback and user behavior over time, and combining movies, shows, games, podcasts, and live events in the best way.

It starts with a prompt — "Given everything we know about this user and this request, what homepage should we generate to maximize user satisfaction?" — and Netflix seems pleased with the results. There are still some issues to work on though, like the AI model not knowing much about a movie or show that's only just launched.

User engagement increased in Netflix's internal testing, with the new 'GenPage' AI model applied, and recommendations became more relevant more quickly. What's more, the time needed to render the homepage went down. This is still in its early stages, and Netflix hasn't said when this will come to users or in what form, but it's now in the pipeline.

AI 'front and center' on Prime Video

Jeff Bezos wants more AI on Amazon's streaming service (Image credit: Getty / Mandel Ngan) On to Amazon, and a new Reuters report says Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has personally decided that Prime Video will act as a showcase for AI in the near future, and that an upcoming homepage redesign will put AI "front and center".

That's according to people "with direct knowledge of the matter", so don't take this as confirmed just yet. The homepage overhaul project is apparently known as 'Lighthouse', and is said to be envisioned as a way of claiming some of the AI spotlight from rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

We don't get too many details on what this is going to look like, but film and TV recommendations are going to have more AI injected into them, Reuters says. The AI will also be better at learning the personal preferences of viewers over time, and responding to voice commands.

You might see tiles on the homepage such as 'action movies from the 1980s', for example. The report doesn't give any indication of when this overhaul might start rolling out, but it's apparently already being tested with a select number of users in a variety of forms.

Our AI-driven interface future

Netflix Users Say They Dislike New Layout; Research Says Otherwise from r/netflix

With two of the big streaming giants apparently now committed to homepages controlled by AI, the next question is what users might make of it. There's so much to watch on each platform that some kind of filter or algorithm is needed, but is this AI-focused approach the right way to go about it?

Past homepage overhauls perhaps give us some clues: A major Netflix redesign rolled out last year was met with many online complaints , but the company's internal data showed that it was working, so it stayed in place. At the time there was speculation that more AI was on the way, and it seems that's now the case.

"I don't know if I'm alone," writes one Redditor , "but I hate the concept of 'personalizing' my content. No offense to anyone but AI so far has not been good at predicting anything about me... I personally do not want software to think for me."

The reactions to Prime Video's upcoming AI overhaul seem similarly downbeat . "This seems completely unnecessary," comments one user, while several suggest the move might even be enough to tip them into canceling their Prime Video subscription.