It might be my job to watch TV for a living, but that still doesn’t make me immune to opening the best streaming services only to find myself endlessly scrolling. Either I’m not in the mood or I can’t agree with others sharing the remote, there are a number of reasons why it can be overwhelming deciding on what to watch.
Of course, I have an ever-expanding watchlist of new movies and TV shows, but that still doesn’t make choosing any easier, so being a tech journalist, I decided to turn to AI to see if a chatbot might be able to help navigate the thousands of titles available – and it left me truly inspired.
I decided to use ChatGTP (well, GTP-5 to be exact) for this week-long experiment, where I tried out several different prompts to see which was most successful in recommending something I actually ended up watching. Just note that it's far quicker to still search where a title is streaming on JustWatch than to ask the chatbot, but as far as recommendations go, here are my favorites.
1. Become the director
Ever wanted to know what Christopher Nolan would recommend to you? Well, the next best thing from having him on speed dial is to get your AI into character by asking it to enter the mind of one of your favorite directors.
Being a Nolan fan, I was recommended a lot of movies I had already seen (a lot of which were from the filmmaker), but after clarifying that I'd like lesser-known films that still fit his tastes and style, I had a much better list of suggestions.
These were based on interviews that Nolan had previously done and so included citations to articles that allowed me to dig deeper into his top movies. I was even given a suggested viewing order, explanations for why I should watch them, and instructions on what to pay attention to – all in Nolan's signature style.
2. Mood matcher
If you're anything like I am, your feelings often dictate what you choose to watch. For example, Sundays tend to be reserved for films the whole family can enjoy, while explosive action films are typically saved for Friday evenings. However, given that most streaming platforms still depend largely on genre classifications, it can be tricky to gauge the overall feeling or atmosphere of a film or show.
This prompt was most effective when focusing on very specific viewing habits. If the initial suggestions weren't quite right (usually because I'd already watched many of them), I could quickly come up with more options by adding small details about my viewing companions or what I'd watched around the same time the previous week.
I also picked out a few titles that caught my ear, and then asked the chatbot to suggest films and series along the same lines. This proved to be the most effective way of narrowing down the selection.
3. Time travel
Sometimes I daydream about being in a different era, whether that's rocking out with Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s or walking around a futuristic cityscape in a distant time from now – movies and TV shows can sometimes be the best time capsules.
Out of all the prompts I tried, this inspired the most conversation with GPT-5. I found myself going back and forth with the chatbot, not just to switch out movies I'd seen or that I didn't think suited the theme, but to build on the ideas it was suggesting.
Ultimately, I compiled a list that used films to narrate the history of the world, beginning with...The Tree of Life (2011), representing humanity's origins, all the way to the next stage of civilization with Interstellar (2014), resulting in a truly massive film-watching session.
4. Genre crash course
Regarding film and television viewing, I'd say I'm a bit of a genre chameleon. I often flit between different sub-genres depending on how I'm feeling or who I'm watching with. However, my Letterboxd account will show that I definitely have my favourites.
For example, I'm much more likely to say yes to a science fiction blockbuster than sit through a war film, and that's precisely why I believe this task is worth a go – it's bound to push you beyond your usual limits.
That, for me, was film noir – a genre I'm not overly familiar with but since watching Sunset Boulevard (1950) I've been hooked. If you're someone who enjoys learning about the history of cinema and its influences, this prompt is bound to take you on a journey.
5. Wild card
It can be time-consuming going back and forth with ChatGPT, telling it which movies and TV shows you've already seen, but it's honestly how you get the best results – how else is it supposed to know?
This meant that by the end of the week, my conversation with the chatbot was taking quite a long time to load, but I found this to be the best time to start asking it to recommend more random suggestions.
There are custom GPTs out there designed to work in this exact way – like a personalized streaming assistant that remembers your tastes to create more tailored watchlists. But they aren't nearly as popular, and it's more common to use prompts like the ones above instead.
You might also like
- I tried using TikTok to find new movies and shows
- I tried out this site that warns you when a jump scare is coming up
- I hate scrolling endlessly on Netflix to find something to watch
Like this article? For more stories like this, follow us on MSN by clicking the +Follow button at the top of this page.
Post a Comment