If the idea of a custom-made “previously on” video for every show you watch is attractive to you, Amazon is taking steps to make it happen. The company has announced that it’ll now include AI-generated “Video Recaps” for select series on Prime Video so it’s easier to hop back into a show after taking a break. The feature expands on text-based X-Ray Recaps the company started experimenting with in 2024, and the Kindle Recaps it already offers for some series sold through the Kindle Store.
Amazon’s Video Recaps combine clips, synchronized narration, select dialogue, music and sound effects into a short video that refreshes you on the characters and plot of a show. You can access the recaps through a new Recaps button on a show’s page. Clicking it will either pull up a text-based X-Ray Recap or a Video Recap, depending on what Amazon’s generated. At least for now, if you’re interested in seeing a Video Recap for yourself, Amazon says the feature is available in beta for Fallout, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Upload, Bosch and The Rig.
Recaps are essentially a repackaged version of the summarizing skill that companies have decided AI excels at. Amazon’s Video Recaps are decidedly more complex than an email summary, but the basic premise is the same. Adding the feature to media apps and devices, as Amazon and Spotify have done, seems like low-hanging fruit that other companies will pursue.
AI-generated recaps aren’t without their detractors, though. Many indie authors were against Kindle Recaps because of their potential to misrepresent the plots and characters of books. The same possibility could theoretically exist for Video Recaps, as well.
