It’s one of the most common low-stakes annoyances in modern life: you flop down on the couch at the end of the day, finally with a few minutes to watch one of the dozens of incredible shows or movies you have access to thanks to the peak TV era and the advent of streaming, and you start scrolling. Instead of actually watching anything, you spend an interminable evening opening apps, aimlessly scrolling through endless rows of same-looking tiles. You eventually give up and watch The Office again.
On this episode of The Vergecast, we look at why TV and movie recommendations are so complicated, and whether AI might be able to make them better. If Spotify can build infinite playlists of music you’ll like, and YouTube and TikTok always seem...