The development of advanced surveillance in China required training models to distinguish between real humans and synthetic media. This technological push inadvertently propelled deepfake and face detection advancements globally, which were then repurposed for consumer applications like AI-generated face filters.

Don't view generative AI video as just a way to make traditional films more efficiently. Ben Horowitz sees it as a fundamentally new creative medium, much like movies were to theater. It enables entirely new forms of storytelling by making visuals that once required massive budgets accessible to anyone.

The 'uncanny valley' is where near-realistic digital humans feel unsettling. The founder believes once AI video avatars become indistinguishable from reality, they will break through this barrier. This shift will transform them from utilitarian tools into engaging content, expanding the total addressable market by orders of magnitude.

While generative video gets the hype, producer Tim McLear finds AI's most practical use is automating tedious post-production tasks like data management and metadata logging. This frees up researchers and editors to focus on higher-value creative work, like finding more archival material, rather than being bogged down by manual data entry.

ElevenLabs' CEO predicts AI won't enable a single prompt-to-movie process soon. Instead, it will create a collaborative "middle-to-middle" workflow, where AI assists with specific stages like drafting scripts or generating voice options, which humans then refine in an iterative loop.

Using large language models, companies can create 'digital twins' of team members based on their work patterns. This allows managers to run 'what-if' scenarios—testing different team compositions or workflows in a simulation to predict outcomes and flag potential issues before making real-world changes.

Not all AI video models excel at the same tasks. For scenes requiring characters to speak realistically, Google's VEO3 is the superior choice due to its high-quality motion and lip-sync capabilities. For non-dialogue shots, other models like Kling or Luma Labs can be effective alternatives.

The OpenAI team believes generative video won't just create traditional feature films more easily. It will give rise to entirely new mediums and creator classes, much like the film camera created cinema, a medium distinct from the recorded stage plays it was first used for.

Business owners and experts uncomfortable with content creation can now scale their presence. By cloning their voice (e.g., with 11labs) and pairing it with an AI video avatar (e.g., with HeyGen), they can produce high volumes of expert content without stepping in front of a camera, removing a major adoption barrier.