Why is Amazon Prime Video under fire? AI controversy explained

Another day, another controversy surrounding the use of artificial intelligence for new movies and TV shows – this time, it’s Amazon’s Prime Video caught in the firing line. 

Whether we like it or not, AI is here to stay. The debate surrounding its use in art has raged on over the past couple of years, reaching new heights amid the writers’ and actors’ strikes, which called for stricter regulations on its use in entertainment. 

Although the strikes have since been resolved, the issue is far from over. Earlier this year, voice actors in the video game industry took action, all of them raising the same issue: studios replacing human performers with AI-generated content, all in the name of cutting costs. 

We’ve seen numerous TV shows and movies facing criticism of late for their use of this technology, whether that be Late Night With the Devil and its uncanny title cards or the Megalopolis fake review debacle. So, why is Prime Video under fire?

Prime Video launches AI-generated recaps

On Monday (November 4), Amazon’s streaming service Prime Video announced the launch of X-Ray Recaps, a feature providing AI-generated TV recaps to its original shows.

The new feature is designed for viewers who need refreshers before the next season of a series or missed a significant detail or plot point. 

Prime Video

As stated by Amazon, “While your initial instinct may be to rewind or search online for a summary, this approach is inconvenient and takes you away from the streaming experience. You also run the risk of encountering a spoiler or rewatching parts you’ve already seen.”

X-Ray Recaps is a generative AI-powered feature that creates brief summaries of various segments of content, whether that be the full season of a TV show, a single episode, or parts of an episode, all of which is personalized to the exact minute of where you’re watching.

Details you have access to include cliffhangers, character moments, and other key details, available whenever you watch. It’s now available for US customers, and can be launched from the Prime Video detail page or while watching a show. 

In terms of the technology behind it, the feature uses AI to analyze video segments along with subtitles to create detailed yet spoiler-free summaries of key events, places, times, and conversations.

Amazon controversy explained

The backlash against Amazon using AI for its new Prime Video feature appears to stem from concerns about job displacement, ethical considerations, and the potential for bias in AI systems. 

In response to the news, one person wrote on X/Twitter, “Why is it always AI man.” “Soon we won’t have to do anything for ourselves… even remember,” said another, while a third asked, “They can’t hire someone for this?”

A fourth chimed in, “Sounds like they’re just using their own AI to copy and rewrite recaps from IMDB and Wikipedia.” One even predicted it will be used for promotional efforts, writing, “And it will remind you to check the Amazon app for the Deal of the Day.”

However, in this instance, X-Ray Recaps really would be an impossible task for a human workforce to complete, especially if the AI is generating summaries in response to requests. 

With this in mind, there were plenty of comments defending the new feature. “I’m one of the biggest AI haters out there but I’m not completely against this,” said one.

“It isn’t taking a job from a creative or anybody and is quite frankly being used to do something that would be hard anyway. 

“I just hope they still write the singular episode information themselves, I don’t exactly want to scroll through services and see a bunch of AI writing when it doesn’t need to be.”

There’s also a level of apprehension about the content AI creates, and whether it is sophisticated enough to understand and translate the nuances of a TV show or new movie. 

In a separate post, one commented, “This seems like the most ethical and by far the most genuinely useful way to take advantage of AI.”

Another replied, “Kind of. Idea wise it seems more useful than it actually is I think, just because most of the AI summary things I’ve seen have the tendency to be inaccurate because LLMs can’t properly understand slang or ‘weird’ context.”

For more AI news, check out this AI-generated true crime YouTube channel, the creepy detail in True Detective Season 4, and the trailer for the first-ever AI movie.

If it’s fresh (human-made) content you’re after, here are the best new movies coming to streaming this month, as well as the TV shows to add to your watchlist.