Amazon Prime Video is testing another new generative AI-powered feature to help you watch a show before it starts a new season. Video Recaps uses AI to identify important plot points of a show and create a short but “dramatic-quality” summary video that combines a selection of clips with music, dialogue, and narration.
The video recaps feature is rolling out in beta on some English-language Prime Original series starting this week Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, upload, BOSCH, stuffAnd Controversy (ahead of the season two premiere on December 17, 2025). Amazon says the available recaps, including the text-based X-Ray recaps introduced a year ago, will be accessible via a recap button on the description page when a “customer navigates to the next season of a supported series.” At launch they were limited to “living room” Fire TV devices, but will be expanded to additional devices in the coming months.
The feature first “analyzes the season’s major plot points and character arcs to provide an in-depth look at the most important moments that will resonate with viewers.” The AI then selects the video clips and combines them with audio that includes sound effects and “comprehensive AI-generated voiceover narration.” The length of the summary will vary depending on the show, but here’s a recap of season three in an image shared in a blog post Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Three minutes seems long.
This feature can be a useful way to refresh your memory for shows with particularly long gaps between seasons. But does Amazon really need to use AI to create these summaries and open the door to inaccuracies that could cause confusion as we head into the new season? Providing video recaps for every season of every show available on Prime could potentially justify the use of AI, but there are less than 20 original drama series on the platform, and this rollout doesn’t even include all of them. Is it really that difficult to see a human being? citadel,