Amazon is using AI to create video recaps of its biggest streaming shows

Amazon Prime Video is rolling out a new feature leveraging generative AI to help subscribers quickly recall the events of a series before diving into a new season. This new functionality, dubbedVideo Recaps, employs artificial intelligence to pinpoint crucial plot developments and then generates a concise, "theatrical-quality" summary video. These recaps expertly weave together selected clips, accompanying music, character dialogue, and an AI-generated narration of the previous season's storyline.

TheVideo Recapsfeature is currently launching this week in a beta phase, available for select English-language Prime Original series. Initial titles include popular shows such asTom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,Upload,Bosch,The Rig, andFallout—specifically in anticipation of its second season premiere scheduled for December 17th, 2025. Viewers can access these recaps, alongside the text-based X-Ray Recaps introduced a year prior, by selecting a dedicated "recap button" found on the show's detail page when navigating to the subsequent season of a supported series. Initially, the feature will be available on "living room" Fire TV devices, with plans to expand to a wider range of devices in the months to come.

The creation process behind these recaps involves AI analyzing a season to identify key plot points and character developments. It meticulously understands the most pivotal moments that resonate with audiences. Subsequently, the AI selects appropriate video clips, stitching them together with relevant audio, including sound effects, and augmenting them with an overarching AI-generated voiceover narration. While the exact duration of these summaries will vary by show, a promotional image from a blog post depicted a season three recap forTom Clancy’s Jack Ryanlasting approximately three minutes.

This feature could prove highly beneficial for viewers looking to refresh their memory, especially for shows with significant hiatuses between seasons. However, questions arise regarding the necessity of employing AI for these summaries. Utilizing AI introduces the potential for inaccuracies, which could lead to confusion as viewers begin a new season. While deployingVideo Recapsacross every season of every show on Prime Video might justify the AI investment, the current rollout is limited to a mere fraction of the platform's fewer than twenty original drama series. This raises a pertinent query: is it truly so challenging to task a human with watching a series likeCitadelto produce a recap?