Tubi just added a new AI chatbot feature — here’s what it does
Tubi wants to make watching TV easier for you, with an assist from AI. The Fox-owned free streaming service announced it is launching a new mobile feature powered by ChatGPT-4 that gives users a new way to discover shows and movies on the platform.
The feature, called Rabbit AI, is designed to go beyond simple keyword searches and act more like a friend making recommendations. For instance, in a preview for Tom's Guide, Tubi representatives used the example of asking Rabbit AI for "shark movies that are funny."
The chatbot responded with several titles, like Sharknado and Shark Bait. From there, titles can be selected to watch immediately or added to My List to view later.
Easing content discovery is something all streaming services are looking to solve. It's a pain point for many customers, who are all too familiar with scrolling through endless rows of movies and TV thumbnails. Tubi itself boasts of its library of over 200,000 movies and TV episodes.
The platform's existing content discovery tools note what users watch, what they like or dislike, and what they save to My list. Tubi uses that info to display a customized home screen and recommendations. Now, Rabbit AI will build on that and give an even more personal touch.
"One in five streamers binge watch because it's convenient or easier than searching for another show as time spent looking is usually a mix of scrolling, maybe bickering over whether to watch a comedy or a horror movie," said Blake Bassett, senior director of product at Tubi.
"At Tubi, we're uniquely situated to find content for viewers that's specific to the moment they’re in because of our large library and our personalization and machine learning algorithms. With Rabbit AI we're making the content discovery experience fun again."
Rabbit AI will roll out as a beta test to Tubi's iOS mobile app for viewers starting today (Sept. 26) across the U.S.
Technology companies are increasingly leaning on artificial intelligence to upgrade their tools and services. At its recent fall event, Amazon unveiled a new Alexa enhanced by generative AI.
