Netflix refutes sexuality-based algorithm for 'Love, Death & Robots'
Netflix has been accused of changing televisions series’ playback order based on viewers’ sexualities. The rumor started after a gay Twitter user, @LukasThoms compared his order of episodes to his straight friend’s, according to NME.
While the Twitter user started watching Love, Death & Robots, a new Netflix series, he reported that the episodes were playing out of their original order. After comparing the order of episodes to his friend’s, he assumed that the Netflix algorithm was using your watch history to gauge what episodes should come next.
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Just discovered the most INSANE thing. The ORDER OF THE EPISODES for Netflix’s new series Love Death & Robots changes based on whether Netflix thinks you’re gay or straight.
— Lukas Thoms (@LukasThoms) March 19, 2019
On the left is my account, starting with the one with a lesbian storyline, and the right is my straight friend Andrew’s account, starting with the one that has the most realistic and explicit hetero sex. pic.twitter.com/kSMuaFhSbU
— Lukas Thoms (@LukasThoms) March 19, 2019
However, things got even weirder when he decided to compare the order of episodes with fellow gay friends. Unlike his straight friend, the Twitter user’s program started with an episode that centered on a lesbian storyline. After looking at his gay friends’ Netflix, it also revealed the same suggested watch order.
My other two gay friends Chris and Jon had the same episode order that I did.
— Lukas Thoms (@LukasThoms) March 19, 2019
Additionally, according to NME, users have been reporting similar stories with Queer Eye.
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However, Netflix has been quick to shut down the accusation. The streaming service refuted the claims by saying they don’t have access to that kind of information.
Instead, Netflix says that they are trying out an entirely new way thing with Love, Death & Robots. That said, the television show in question runs more like an anthology of short stories as opposed to a season with one, arching plot.
“We’ve never had a show like Love, Death & Robots before so we’re trying something completely new: presenting four different episode orders,” Netflix says. “The version you’re shown has nothing to do with gender, ethnicity, or sexual identity — info we don’t even have in the first place.”
We’ve never had a show like Love, Death & Robots before so we’re trying something completely new: presenting four different episode orders. The version you’re shown has nothing to do with gender, ethnicity, or sexual identity — info we don’t even have in the first place.
— Netflix US (@netflix) March 19, 2019
The Twitter user has since provided updates on his own findings. After reaching out to a trusted person at Netflix, he, too, has found out that the order is actually completely random.
A final update: a friend I trust at Netflix looked into this, and apparently the episode ordering is just a 100% random A/B test that doesn’t involve any ML. Identity-based recommendations are still a good discussion to have, in this case it was just random!
— Lukas Thoms (@LukasThoms) March 19, 2019
You can watch the trailer for the brand new show Love, Death & Robots below.
What do you think about identity-based recommendations? Sound off in the comments below.
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