How many times have you wanted to catch up on the recaps of the previous season of your favourite Prime Video shows before kicking off the latest season? Unless the show’s creators are generous enough to put together a small montage of where the series left off, there was no easy way to do so. Amazon’s Prime Video team, however, has now launched a new feature that creates recaps for every web series show at the start of a new season.
Video Recaps comes to Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is deploying generative AI as a personal recap wizard. The feature essentially transforms dry episode summaries into cinematic highlight reels. Building on last year’s text-based X-Ray Recaps, this AI-driven tool promises to create theatrical-quality videos packed with key plot points, character arcs, dialogue snippets, and mood-setting music.
Gérard Medioni, Prime Video’s vice president of technology, hailed it as a “groundbreaking application of generative AI for streaming,” highlighting Amazon’s push to make viewing “more accessible and enjoyable.” The feature is currently rolling out in the US for select English-language Prime Originals like Fallout, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Upload, Bosch, and The Rig.
The Video Recaps feature syncs AI narration with curated clips for a spoiler-light refresher. It’s exclusive to TV users for now, with mobile and web support slated for the coming months.
How to use AI Video Recaps at the start of a season
Note that the AI Video Recaps feature is initially available to subscribers in the US for the time being. Here are some simple steps to use this AI-backed Video Recaps feature for your long-running Prime Video show.
– Open the app on your supported living room device (like Fire TV, Apple TV, Amazon app on Google TV or Roku). Ensure you’re signed in with a Prime membership.
– From the home screen, search for or navigate to a supported series like Fallout or Bosch. Head straight to the detail page for the upcoming season.
– Look for the prominent “Recap” tile or button, usually nestled below the trailer or episode list. It auto-detects if you’re jumping seasons and suggests a summary.
– Go for the new Video Recap for that AI-narrated take, or stick with the classic X-Ray text version if you’re in text-scrolling mode. Note that the videos run 2-5 minutes, whereas the text is a quick read
– Hit play and then catch up on the essentials with no spoilers, with seamless transition to Episode 1.
