Using Generative AI in Content Production (partnerhelp.netflixstudios.com)

Netflix published practical guidance for using generative AI across content production, framing GenAI as a creative aid that must be used transparently and responsibly. The memo sets clear guiding principles: don’t substantially recreate identifiable or copyrighted material; ensure tools don’t store, reuse, or train on production inputs; prefer enterprise-secured tooling; keep generated material temporary unless approved; and never replace union-covered talent or replicate likenesses/voices without documented consent. Partners must disclose intended GenAI use to their Netflix contact, and any use involving final deliverables, talent likeness, personal data, or third‑party IP requires written approval. For the AI/ML community this crystallizes operational and technical requirements: pipelines must enforce data isolation and non-training guarantees (or run within Netflix enterprise agreements), provenance and license tiers must be audited, and custom multi-tool workflows must meet the same protections. Creative and legal triage is formalized (a Use Case Matrix) — ideation/moodboards are low risk, but generating key visuals, digital replicas, or story‑critical elements triggers escalation. The guidance also stresses ethics (avoid misleading or deceptive outputs), union impacts, QA for talent enhancement models, and strict scope limitations for any models trained on performer material — all critical considerations for deploying GenAI responsibly in production environments.