HBO Max is giving subscribers new ways to discover movies and television shows with two mobile features that use artificial intelligence and personalized recommendations to make browsing easier.
The streaming service has launched HBO Max Shorts and an experimental conversational search experience in the United States. Both features are designed to address a familiar streaming problem: having thousands of titles available but not knowing what to watch.
HBO Max Shorts offers a vertical, scrollable video feed featuring memorable scenes, trailers, clips and bonus content from the service’s programming. Users can access the feature through a Shorts icon on the bottom navigation menu and scroll through clips much like other short-form video platforms.
The feed is personalized based on a user’s viewing history and preferences. If a clip catches a viewer’s attention, the user can immediately begin watching the title or add it to My List.
The Shorts feature is initially being tested with select iOS users in the U.S., with plans to expand to additional devices and international markets.
Artificial intelligence plays a role behind the scenes. HBO Max developed an internal AI tool that assists human editors in identifying potential clips from its programming library. The tool uses machine learning and scene-level metadata to search through thousands of hours of content and recommend scenes that could work well for discovery.
Human editors ultimately determine which clips make the cut. They select scenes intended to showcase compelling moments, major plot developments and visually striking sequences before the footage is formatted for vertical viewing.
Deepna Devkar, senior vice president of machine learning engineering, said the technology will allow HBO Max to make more of its programming discoverable.
The company also is testing a conversational search tool called Ask HBO Max. The feature is available to select adult subscribers in the U.S. through Android mobile devices and can be accessed from the search page.
Rather than requiring viewers to know the exact title, actor or keyword associated with a program, conversational search allows users to describe what they want to watch in everyday language.
For example, subscribers can enter requests such as “in the mood for a comedy,” “dysfunctional family drama” or “best movie for a girls night in.” The system uses natural language understanding and semantic search to interpret the intent behind those requests and recommend relevant programming, even when the specific terms do not appear in a title’s metadata.
Liesel Kipp, executive vice president of product management at Warner Bros. Discovery, said the features are intended to build on familiar ways people already interact with mobile content.
HBO Max plans to expand both experiences to more devices and markets, with Shorts also expected to incorporate sports content as the platform continues refining the features based on how subscribers use them.