Netflix is updating the look of its user interface, with OpenAI partnering to create a “giant leap forward” in how customers interact with the service.
The look of Netflix is about to change, it’s been announced, as the streaming giant announces that it’s redesigning the look of its app on televisions. A substantial redesign will simplify the user’s navigation experience, per Netflix’s own announcement on its website, and will also adjust itself to “respond to your viewing and browsing history,” which the company hopes will mean its customers can find the things they like more easily.
The new look is also said to be more flexible, reflecting Netflix’s growing interest in videogames and live sports; the shape of thumbnails and preview videos has also changed – apparently to allow users to view vertical clips like those seen on TikTok and other platforms of its ilk.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, meanwhile, Netflix has also partnered with OpenAI to create an AI search function, meaning users will be able to use everyday language to find the shows they’re looking for.
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“If you think about all of the areas where Netflix has a big advantage,” Netflix product officer Eunice Kim told THR, “our reach, our recommendations, our fandom, technology enables all those things. That technology includes AI. We want you to be able to discover shows in movies using natural conversational phrases, like, ‘I want something funny and upbeat,’ or ‘I want something scary, but not too scary, and also maybe a little bit funny, but not like, ha ha funny.’ Believe it or not, that search phrase will actually yield results in the new experience.”
Such loose queries are highly subjective, however – what’s scary but not too scary will vary from user to user, for example – so it remains to be seen whether the function will be popular or helpful enough to justify the energy-hungry resources required to deploy it. As pointed out by TechCrunch, Tubi experimented with its own ChatGPT-powered search function in 2023, but eventually withdrew it due to a lack of usage from its customers.
Netflix says that its new-look interface will gradually appear on the world’s televisions from the 19th May.
