According to Forbes, Amazon pulled an AI-generated recap video for the hit show Fallout ahead of its second season debut next week. The video, which featured a monotonous AI voiceover, was filled with glaring factual errors, like misidentifying flashbacks set in the 2070s as taking place in the 1950s and completely mischaracterizing key character interactions. The backlash from fans and media was swift, forcing Amazon to remove the video. This incident comes after the company’s VP of technology for Prime Video, Gérard Medioni, had touted these “Video Recaps” as a “groundbreaking application of generative AI” meant to make viewing more enjoyable. Instead, it’s become a case study in AI’s shortcomings and corporate cost-cutting.
The Unforced Error
Here’s the thing: this was entirely avoidable. A season recap is not rocket science. It’s a standard piece of marketing and viewer aid that studios have been producing for years. Amazon, a trillion-dollar company, decided that even this small task was worth automating to save a few bucks. But they couldn’t even be bothered to have a human spend ten minutes fact-checking the AI’s output. The mistakes weren’t subtle lore quibbles; they were fundamental, obvious errors that anyone who had seen the show would catch. It’s the corporate equivalent of turning in a book report you didn’t read, and hoping the teacher won’t notice. They noticed.
The Human Cost
This isn’t just about a bad video. It’s about jobs. As highlighted in a Reddit comment from a former editor, this exact type of work used to be done by skilled professionals. Someone would get notes, watch the material, and craft a recap with “stylistic panache.” Now, that work is handed to a machine that produces bland, incorrect slop. The editor’s conclusion is stark: “this definitely took someone’s job.” Amazon’s statement about “innovation” and improving the “viewing experience” rings hollow when the real driver seems to be not paying people. And for what? A product so bad you have to yank it offline.
AI Can’t Do Tone
Even if the AI had gotten every fact right, the result would still be soul-crushingly mediocre. A great recap does more than list plot points; it sets a tone. Think of the playful recaps in Jane the Virgin or Bad Monkey. They were part of the show’s personality. An AI can’t do that. It can only synthesize and regurgitate without understanding context, humor, or heart. What Amazon released was the video equivalent of plain, cold oatmeal. Meanwhile, as talented human creators on YouTube show every day, there’s a massive appetite for recaps with actual insight and character. Amazon chose the worst possible option.
A Symptom Of A Bigger Sickness
This fiasco is a tiny preview of a coming battle in entertainment. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, Amazon has been rolling out these AI recaps for a while. Companies have sunk billions into AI and now feel compelled to use it everywhere, even where it makes no sense, just to justify the investment. We’re seeing the same frantic push in other areas, like Disney’s contradictory moves of suing over AI copyright while also licensing its library to AI video tools. Executives see a cost line going down and call it innovation. They don’t see—or don’t care about—the loss of craft, accuracy, and the human touch. So we get a Fallout recap that can’t get basic facts straight about its own show. If this is the “groundbreaking” future, maybe we should just rewind.
