Netflix Brags $900k AI Jobs Amidst Hollywood Sit-downs

Netflix has initiated an irate reaction from striking Hollywood movie stars and writers after broadcasting a job advert for an artificial intelligence (AI) specialist.

The new portfolio would join its Machine Learning Platform team, which drives the Netflix algorithm assisting viewers pick new programmes to watch.

It pays up to $900,000 (£700,000) per year, fuelling further outrage.

Hollywood unions are striking over concerns about how AI affects the entertainment space and salary.

The job listing, which was foremost reported by The Intercept on Tuesday, is one of several listed on the Netflix job page that calls for applicants with experience in machine learning (ML) and AI.

It is ambiguous from the expansive employment advert whether the role will advise on content – the TV programmes and films that Netflix chooses to invest in.

Another open listing for a product manager on the Machine Learning Platform team says the future employee will “collect feedback and understand user needs” and ultimately help with investment decisions.

The description appears to indicate that the role will include using AI to assess funding needs for different programmes.

This is a key concern of the union representing actors, Sag-Aftra, which has communicated of its apprehensions that algorithms have too much power.

Sag-Aftra’s Fran Drescher told Time magazine the singular success of any movie or television programme is now much less crucial than when broadcast television was prevalent.

“Algorithms dictate how many episodes a season needs to be before you reach a plateau of new subscribers and how many seasons a series needs to be on,” she asserted.

“That reduces the number of episodes per season to between six and 10, and it reduces the number of seasons to three or four. You can’t live on that.

“We’re being systematically squeezed out of our livelihood by a business model that was foisted upon us, that has created a myriad of problems for everyone up and down the ladder.”

The Writers’ Guild, WGA, has proposed a system that controls the use of AI in the writing process and eschews it being used as source material.

Netflix refused to comment about the job listings, but has earlier said AI will not take the place of the creative procedure.

“The best stories are original, insightful and often come from people’s own experiences,” Netflix has mentioned.

The announcement of the most current AI-based job listing was criticized by some sit-down actors, who must gain $26,470 before being eligible for health insurance advantages.

“So $900k/yr per soldier in their godless AI army when that amount of earnings could qualify thirty-five actors and their families for Sag-Aftra health insurance is just ghoulish,” movie star Rob Delaney, told The Intercept.

Javier Grillo-Marxuach, who is competently figured out for the series Lost, blamed Netflix of “pleading poverty while recruiting VERY (more than I’ve ever made in a year BY FAR) well-paid generals for your soulless army of silicon plagiarists”.

Earlier this week, Netflix proclaimed the takeoff of a new app – My Netflix – which the firm calls “a one-stop shop tailored to you with easy shortcuts to help you choose what you want to watch”.