Netflix is testing a new AI-powered voice search in the US

If you’ve had just about enough of using a TV remote to type and search for things to watch, Netflix has some good news for you. The company is reportedly testing a new AI-based voice search within its smart TV app that lets users find things to watch using natural language queries.

According to the report from The Verge, the feature isn’t widely available and is being tested with a limited group of users in the US. Even among those users, it is reportedly only accessible on a subset of their devices.

Users with access to the tool can press the Netflix button on their remote to activate the AI voice search. Netflix offers up some suggested searches alongside an “Ask” button which leads to the AI-powered search, allowing users to speak to search, and find things to watch.

Voice search reportedly does very well with most queries and can surface relevant TV shows and movies even for difficult searches. In fact, an odd query like “fun kids TV shows about death” reportedly surfaced A Series of Unfortunate Events, which definitely fits that description.

Netflix also seems to have ensured that the search doesn’t respond to certain kinds of searches, including those with racist overtones.

This certainly seems to be a well-thought-out move from the company, even though it’s still in beta. However, it’s missing some key features. For example, it can’t surface shows based on users’ watch history or use their personalized recommendations.

That omission is surprising, since Netflix’s personalized recommendations are exceptionally good. Having those included in this new AI-powered voice search would have made it an even better tool.

Though we are not sure when Netflix might roll out this upgrade to everyone, it is certainly worth waiting for, if its reported accuracy is to be believed.