The likes of YouTube and Netflix rely on systems that are "inefficient," claims post-doctoral researcher Marina Zapater Sanch. "They store either one copy of a video in the highest-quality format possible, or dozens of copies in different formats." This can result in slow and choppy streaming, or a crippling server storage load, according to Sanch.

Like CSAIL before them, her team taught their program to learn from experience. Specifically, the AI monitored 1,000 people playing a video across an exhaustive range of devices. The system then memorized the series of actions that led to better quality streams. The project is still in its infancy, which may explain why the researchers aren't elaborating on its details. Still, it could have real world applications for video platforms in the future. But, first the team want to modify it for real-time streaming: A system where just one copy of a video can be optimized for each particular user.