Netflix Is Using AI to Upscale a 1980s Sitcom and the Results Are Borderline Horrific

From the very first frames, you can tell there's something off about Netflix's version of "A Different World," a "Cosby Show" spin-off that aired on NBC from 1987 to 1993. As spotted by developer and blogger Scott Hanselman, the streamer — or whatever rightsholder licensed the show to it — seriously bungled its efforts to upscale the decades-old footage, which was originally shot on film and made available on DVD since then. The show was added earlier this month and is currently listed as being "HD." But onscreen artifacts quickly make it clear that an algorithm is being used to increase the sharpness of pixelated frames, with sometimes comically awful results. The intro credits already raise alarm bells, with mangled hands, misaligned facial features, bungled logos, and overall smeary lines that don't meet up. In other words, it's all the hallmarks of sloppy AI — except that instead of screwing up a single scene, as was the case with the AI-generated posters appearing in a 2024 ep ... Read full article.