Netflix, Intent on Using AI to Own BackGround Actors’ Faces in Perpetuity Without Pay, Will Pay You $900k If You Tell Them How to Cash in on AI

So that's where all of its money's been going!

Joan Is Awful

Streaming giant Netflix, which is one of many studios currently fighting with the striking SAG Union over, among other things, whether they should be allowed to pay background actors one single day's rate for the right to deepfake an actor's visage into any future content they may wish, has the perfect place to put all of that money it apparently doesn't have for writers and actors: according to a job posting, it wants to pay someone anywhere between $300,000 and $900,000 to tell them exactly how it can cash in on AI tech.

First caught by Gizmodo, the posting is specifically looking for a machine learning product manager, and is comically vague about what this very well-compensated manager might actually do. As Giz points out, Netflix does employ AI in places like its recommendation algorithms and thumbnails, but based on the description and salary, this seems less like a background engineering role and much more like an overall strategy-slash-brainstorming position.

"With more than 230 million members in over 190 countries, Netflix continues to shape the future of entertainment around the world," reads the listing. "Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence is powering innovation in all areas of the business."

"The Machine Learning Platform (MLP) provides the foundation for all of this innovation. It offers ML/AI practitioners across Netflix the means to achieve the highest possible impact with their work by making it easy to develop, deploy and improve their machine-learning models," it continues. "We are creating a new Product Management role to increase the leverage of our Machine Learning Platform."

In the listed qualifications, Netflix asks its AI management applicants to combine a number of skills to "define, explain and execute your vision." Indeed, most of the qualifications involve a mention of the ML manager's "vision" for Netflix's continued use of AI. Which honestly seems to imply that Netflix's vision for AI is to generally jam the tech into every corner of its business.

The whole thing is pretty depressing, if unsurprising, given that Netflix has made it very clear these past few months that it's unwilling to let go of its AI ambitions. Looking at this job listing, Netflix certainly seems intent on putting its money where its mouth is. We might expect other studios to follow suit. So, if brainstorming ways to architect our content economy's final descension into AI-spun nothingstuff sounds like your deal — well, enjoy the high life, buddy.

More on streaming and AI: Studios Want to Replace Background Actors With AI After Paying Them for Only One Day