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Netflix uses generative AI in one of its shows for first time
- DarkNova6 1y agoMaybe the most interesting paragraph: “The cost of [the special effects without AI] just wouldn’t have been feasible for a show in that budget,” Sarandos said. But given the abysmal quality of CGI/FX these days (look at the new Mortal Kombat trailer ffs), I can’t imagine film deteriorating any further. But industry must seriously step up its game because soon, everyone can make movies like that. What counts is not the monopoly on talent and technology, but distribution and how much artistic merit you can leverage. Hollywood is rightfully afraid.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- pointlessone 1y agoMK CGI might as well be on purpose. Paying homage to the cheesefest of the old movies. The CGI in the Uncaged Fury trailer is definitley on purpose an intentionally worse than bad.
- DarkNova6 1y agoNo homage can be great enough if the original from the 90s looks better than their contemporary counterpart. The new movie looks like a collection of scenes containing 2-3 people on a bluescreen, with pre-rendered backgrounds that look worse than the last 2 video game entries (which were genuine pieces of art). I wanna love it, but I'm currently watching 90s anime and I am impressed by their composition and how they can linger on a single scene to create mood. All while having a dense plot.
- DoctorOW 1y agoThis isn't unique to AI. Visual effects have been achievable on my desktop computer for as long as I can remember (I'm in my mid twenties). Industry standard compositing tools such as Nuke, Autodesk, Fusion, have had free educational/non-commercial versions forever, and you can replace almost all of those with Blender. Watch Tears of Steel, a short film done almost entirely in FOSS. Technology aside, I believe that the monopoly on talent, as in the hiring of talent is symptomatic of a monopoly on distribution, which means the devaluing of talent over reach is actually worse for the independent filmmaker.
- alephnerd 1y agoVFX studios don't have a sufficient monopoly of talent - it's overwhelmingly piecework outsourced to multiple studios, and most jurisdictions give MASSIVE tax subsidises for VFX production (40-70% of total production cost). The issue for a lot of productions is the budget per episode is low. For example, the show mentioned in the article has a budget of $15M to produce 6 episodes that heavily rely on shooting on location, significant set design, VFX, somewhat high profile actors, and a significant reduction in tax incentives by the Millei government at a moment when countries like Vietnam, India, Philippines, Colombia, and China are creating a second VFX production subsidy war. Choosing to use GenAI to automate the creation of secondary scenes can become fairly cheap and is the lowest hanging fruit.
- voidUpdate 1y agoIs netflix having financial troubles that mean it can't hire actual people or something?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- peter-m80 1y agobro discovered capitalism
- voidUpdate 1y agoSis already knew capitalism existed, she is also angry at companies for taking jobs away from people
- liljohnak 1y agoI can see your point of view and have concerns, but truly the job does not belong to the person doing it. It belongs to the employer. We are just keeping the seat warm for when someone better is available. (Capitalism)
- voidUpdate 1y agoA lot of people think that money should not be simply given to people, and you have to work a job to get it. A lot of jobs are being replaced by AI. You need money to survive. I am in favour of people being able to work their jobs
- silverquiet 1y agoI would say that it's called capitalism and not laborism for a reason.
- birn559 1y agoI don't think that's appropriate language for HN. We should strive for high quality content but the very least civilized discussions, ideally without sarcasm or one liners that spirals into low quality posts.
- defrost 1y agoIn other current "AI" assisted effects in TV series - virtual dubbing: Watch the Skies review – see the lips move in alien abduction sci-fi with pioneering AI https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jul/08/watch-the-skies-review-alien-abduction-sci-fi-ai-vlubbing https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jul/08/watch-the-skies... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44498995 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44498995 This nicely put together Swedish UFO throwback is notable for its early use of ‘vubbing’ – using tech to match lip movements to new English dialogue.
- elpocko 1y agoUse of AI in video production might become the standard in a short time. Quality, coherence, and consistency of video generation has substantially improved over the last year. I'm looking forward to it, especially in ambitious amateur productions.
- kldg 1y agoIt makes sense for short shots, I guess; think a kind of "slideshow of videos"; maybe scene-setting landscape pans, but then you need your production to conform to whatever the AI generates, because it won't conform to what you had in mind. I haven't seen a good example yet of passable scene-to-scene character coherency, so don't imagine we'll be seeing a whole-AI show for a fairly long while. That plastic man short that went viral ~2-3 months ago was not near required "conformity" (that is, the character changed too much between scenes; had too many errors). Would be pleased to see examples of it if it exists, though.
- mingus88 1y agoHeadline isn’t true. Netflix was caught adding AI generated images in a true crime doc https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/netflix-crime-doc-accused-unethical-ai-19416739.php https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/netflix-crime-doc-... Jennifer Pans case is from 2010 so there’s no explaining away how photos of her from that time ended up with characteristic AI fingers
- morgango 1y agoThe problem is that media and video games are worth less. Not "worthless", of course, but just valued less than they used to be. Essentially, prices for video games and media are stagnant (or even go down) compared to inflation, and the prices for people go up every year. Changes (something like moving to lower cost countries or utilizing AI) is inevitable in a capitalist system.