Netflix and OpenAI: Improving Search with Mood-Based Recommendations

Ever spend way too long scrolling through Netflix? What if you could just tell it your mood? Netflix is betting it can make that happen.

It can be hard to find something good to watch on Netflix or other streaming services. Movies appear on one service, then disappear to another, leaving you hunting for where they landed this week. They disappear faster than your friend who owes you $20.

Netflix is trying to fix this with a new search tool. Reports from Bloomberg, confirmed by Jay Peters at The Verge, indicate Netflix is using OpenAI to power a search function being tested in Australia and New Zealand on iOS, allowing users to search by mood.

The new search engine will let users “look for shows using far more specific terms, including the subscriber’s mood, for example, the company said,” per the report. This OpenAI-powered search will also allow users to make queries that “go well beyond genres or actors’ names.”

Right now, when you search on Netflix, you can look for things like the type of movie (like comedy or drama) or actors. But with the new tool, you could tell Netflix how you're feeling, and it will suggest shows for that mood. For example, you could search for "funny movies" or "scary movies to watch alone".

How do you feel about this?

Will Netflix's New Search Really Help?

Exhibit A: Proof that Netflix's recommendations can seem repetitive.

My concern isn't with improving discoverability per se, but with the illusion of choice Netflix sometimes presents.

My suggestions feel like an endless loop of the same 20 movies, repackaged with a different cover and appearing under a different list. Geostorm appears in four different lists for me - and seemingly paired with Venom: The Last Dance and the Gray Man. Kraven the Hunter appears in several lists. I’m also being served a host of Netflix Originals.

As an aside, I’m curious what mood brings forward an alien good monster than likes eating brains and chocolate, but for sure I’m going to try it out … and then maybe make an appointment with my therapist.

Final Thoughts on Netflix's OpenAI Experiment

Ultimately, my hope is that this new engine genuinely expands my viewing options, rather than just reshuffling the same digital deck. Only time (and a lot of searching) will tell.