Amazon might want to spend some of its bottle caps on better Fallout compilations.
Prime Video removed its AI-powered “Fallout” season 1 retrospective on Friday ahead of the season 2 premiere on Dec. 17. The incident comes a month after Amazon announced in November that Prime Video would launch “X-Ray Recaps,” which use AI to extract key plot details from previous TV seasons.
But the AI wasn't as good at identifying details as Amazon hoped. Several fans noticed that the AI had misinterpreted or misrepresented key details in Fallout, the animated series based on the popular post-apocalyptic RPG video series created by Tim Kaine and Leonard Boyarski.
“Video Recaps represents a breakthrough application of generative AI for streaming,” Gerard Medioni, vice president of technology for Prime Video, said in a November statement. “This first-of-its-kind feature demonstrates Prime Video's continued commitment to innovation and making the viewing experience more accessible and enjoyable for our customers.”
One such detail is the choice the ghoul (Walton Goggins) gives Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell). Stay or follow Lucy's journey to find her father Hank (Kyle MacLachlan) in New Vegas. Viewers noted that in the AI summary, the ghoul says that Lucy could “die or leave with him,” implying that he will kill Lucy if she doesn't comply (versus what actually happened in season 1).
X-ray recappers were also confused by the post-apocalyptic setting of Season 1 of “Fallout.” Text-to-speech recappers say these scenes are set in 50's America, as the retro-futuristic design of the environments makes the scenes before the nuclear bomb drop look like they are taking place in the 1950's. In fact, they will occur in 2077.
Obviously, if you want your AI omnibus to be a functional option in future seasons or series, you'll need to invest more stat points in Charisma, Intelligence, or Awareness.
Amazon has since removed X-Ray Recap from Prime Video, so if “Fallout” fans want to catch up on season 1 right away, they'll have to wait a bit. In the meantime, you can read TheWrap's breakdown of the latest trailer for the apocalyptic series.
“Fallout” Season 2 premieres Wednesday, Dec. 17 on Prime Video.
