Brett LindenbergGenerative AI makes the video. Avatar tools such as Synthesia and HeyGen turn a typed script into a presenter video, video models such as Google's Veo generate short scenes from a prompt, and AI voices dub the narration into other languages. Interactive video gives the viewer something to do while it plays, such as answering a question, choosing a path, or filling in a form, and records each action against that viewer. AI interactive video combines the two, so a generated video can ask, branch, and report by viewer. Generation lowers the cost of making a video, and the interactive layer tells you who understood it and what they did next. In the 33-second demo below, a generic AI-presenter overview stops and asks you which change would make it useful for one viewer.
What generative AI video tools make
"Generative AI video" covers several kinds of tool. They differ in what you give them, what you get back, and what is still your job afterward. We checked each vendor's own pages in October 2026.
| Kind of tool | What it makes | Examples | What is left to you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avatar presenter video | A presenter reads your script on camera in the language you choose | Synthesia, HeyGen | One fixed video that plays the same way for every viewer |
| Scene generation | Short clips from a text prompt or an image. Google says Veo 3.1 also generates sound effects and dialogue | Google Veo 3.1, Runway Gen-4.5 | Cutting short clips into a complete video |
| AI voice and dubbing | Narration, cloned voices, and translated voice tracks. Some tools also re-sync lip movement | HeyGen, Synthesia, Mindstamp | Checking the translation and how names and terms are pronounced |
| Real-time avatars | An avatar that listens and answers in a live conversation | Synthesia Interactive Avatars and Sessions, HeyGen LiveAvatar | The knowledge it answers from, and a fixed lesson where everyone must see the same content |
| Script writing | Outlines, scripts, and draft quiz questions from a prompt or a document | General AI assistants | Checking every fact before anything is generated |
Avatar tools change the cost of updating a video the most. An avatar tool takes text, a presenter, and a language and returns a finished clip, so updating a policy video means editing the script and generating it again instead of booking another shoot.
What "AI interactive video" can mean
People use the phrase for different setups, and each one suits a different job.
A generated video with an interactive layer
You generate the video, then add questions, buttons, branches, and forms on its timeline. The file stays the same for everyone. The layer changes what each viewer sees next and records what they chose. This is the usual setup for training, onboarding, and sales video.
AI features inside the interactive player
Here the AI works during or around playback. Mindstamp's Genie AI answers viewer questions from the video's transcript and the notes you add, and it says so when those sources do not contain the answer. Our AI question builder drafts 1 to 20 multiple-choice questions from a transcript. Our guide to what AI can do for interactive video covers these features one at a time.
A real-time avatar you talk to
Synthesia released an Interactive Avatar API for its Enterprise customers in July 2026, and on October 1, 2026 it launched Sessions, where people practice conversations with an avatar or answer survey questions it asks out loud. HeyGen sells a real-time avatar API under the name LiveAvatar. These products hold a live conversation. A recorded video with questions on its timeline fits better when every viewer must see the same content and answer the same questions, as in compliance training.
Why AI-generated video still needs interaction
Synthesia, one of our integration partners, shows how quickly money has moved into avatar video. In June 2023, TechCrunch reported that Synthesia had raised $90 million at a $1 billion valuation. The company announced a $180 million round at a $2.1 billion valuation in January 2025 and a $200 million round at a $4 billion valuation in January 2026. In that last announcement, Synthesia said it expects the next decade to move from static, one-way content toward interactive, conversational experiences.
Cheaper production means more video competing for the same viewers' time. Across 8.07 million views of 18,315 Mindstamp videos recorded from 2018 to October 2026, the average view played 46.5% of the video. Videos where viewers took more than three actions per view averaged 51.8% watched, compared with 43.9% for videos where viewers took no action. Many factors differ between those videos, so treat this as a pattern, not proof.
Research on recorded lessons points the same way. In a 2013 study in PNAS, Harvard researchers Karl Szpunar, Novall Khan, and Daniel Schacter found that short memory tests placed between segments of an online lecture reduced students' mind wandering, increased their note-taking, and improved learning.
Interaction also changes what you can measure. A generated video on a hosting page reports plays and watch time. A question or a choice on the timeline produces a record for each viewer, so you can see which learner missed question 3 and which prospect opened the pricing path (see what a viewer report shows). Any competitor can now generate a polished presenter from a script, so the questions your video asks and the answers you collect do more to set it apart than the presenter does. Our guide to making videos stand out among AI-assisted content has more on that.
How to make an AI-generated video interactive
These steps assume an avatar video from Synthesia or HeyGen. They work the same way for any generated or filmed file.
1. Write the script around the viewer's decisions
Mark the moments where the viewer should answer, choose, or act before you generate anything. Put each question right after the point it checks, and write a short scene for each branch. With an avatar tool, an extra branch costs a few more lines of script and one more render, so paths that were too expensive to film are now practical. Questions pause the video, so end the presenter's sentence before the question appears.
2. Decide how the branches are cut
Each branch can be its own video or a section of one longer video. In Mindstamp, Switch Video sends the viewer to another video, which gives each branch its own report, and each branch video counts toward the videos in your library. Change Time jumps to another point in the same video and keeps the whole path in one view. See how video branching works for the trade-offs.
3. Bring the video into Mindstamp
You can import Synthesia and HeyGen videos when you create a new video in Mindstamp. For Synthesia, you turn on video sharing, create an API key, and add it to Mindstamp's Synthesia integration, as Synthesia's guide to the Mindstamp integration describes. For HeyGen, you connect your HeyGen account and choose a video (see the HeyGen integration). You can also upload the MP4 file you exported. Transcripts work for uploaded files and MP4 links, and the AI features in step 4 need one.
4. Add the interactive layer
Add the interactions you planned in step 1:
- Questions that pause the video at the point they check, with feedback or a jump back to the explanation after a wrong answer
- Branching buttons or answers that send each viewer to the scene for their role or need
- Lead capture forms and buttons that book a meeting or open a page without leaving the player
- Personalization that shows a viewer's name or company from their link or an earlier answer, on supported plans
With a transcript, the AI question builder drafts quiz questions for you to check (see how to turn a video into a quiz with AI). You can also connect an AI agent such as Claude or ChatGPT through Mindstamp MCP and ask it to add questions, buttons, and chapters. An account owner has to turn on AI features first, and changes need a plan with API access. To see the viewer's side, try the branching example or the video quiz example.
5. Translate the questions along with the voice
Avatar tools can render a script in many languages, but the questions and buttons you added in Mindstamp stay in the original language unless you translate them too. Mindstamp's video translation can dub the audio and translate the captions and interactions in one video, or translate only the interactions at no charge. Our guide to translating an interactive video with AI dubbing covers both options.
6. Read the answers, then regenerate what failed
After launch, open each video's report and find the question most viewers miss or the branch almost nobody chooses. Because the video comes from a script, you can rewrite that scene and generate it again. In Mindstamp, Replace source video keeps the interactions, their times, the share link, and the embed code. Move any interaction whose moment shifted, and submit the translation again, because a replace removes a published translated audio track.
Built-in interactivity or a separate layer
Some generators now include interactive features. Synthesia's interactivity page lists these (checked October 2026):
- buttons that link to forms, documents, or articles
- in-video quizzes and branching scenarios
- analytics for quiz pass rates and completion
- SCORM export for an LMS
Its pricing page lists interactive videos on the Pro plan and above and SCORM export on Enterprise. If all your video comes from one generator and its options cover what you need to measure, its built-in interactivity may be enough. A separate layer such as Mindstamp helps when one of these is true:
- Your videos come from several places, such as Synthesia, HeyGen, screen recordings, and filmed footage, and you want one editor and one report for all of them.
- Answers and actions must be tied to a named viewer and sent on to HubSpot or a webhook, on supported plans.
- You need question types beyond multiple choice, such as voice and video responses, ratings, or drawing on the frame.
- Viewers should be able to ask the video a question with Genie, or see translated questions and buttons.
Risks to manage with generated video
An AI-written script can state something false with complete confidence. Have a subject expert check the script before you generate the video, and check every AI-drafted question against the video before viewers see it.
Use a real person's face or voice only with their consent. In the 2023 TechCrunch report, Synthesia said it requires formal consent from a person before it synthesizes their appearance.
Labeling rules now apply in some markets. The European Commission says the AI Act's transparency rules take effect in August 2026 and that deep fakes should be clearly and visibly labelled. If your video shows realistic AI people to viewers in the EU, check whether it needs a label. In a July 2026 announcement, Synthesia said customers can add an AI label to each scene and that eligible videos carry C2PA content credentials.
Every AI feature sends some content to a model provider. Our help page on how Mindstamp's AI features handle your data lists which features do this and which stay off until an account owner turns them on.
Common questions
What are generative AI videos?
Generative AI videos are videos made partly or fully by AI models from text, images, or audio. The category includes avatar presenter videos generated from a script, short scenes generated from a prompt, and existing videos with AI-generated voices in other languages.
What is an AI interactive video?
It is a video that responds to the viewer and uses AI somewhere in how it is made or played. Most often it is an AI-generated video with questions, choices, and forms added on its timeline. The phrase can also mean a player with an AI assistant that answers questions, or a live avatar that holds a conversation.
Can AI make a video interactive by itself?
AI can draft much of the work. In Mindstamp, the AI question builder drafts questions from the transcript, and an agent connected through MCP can add questions and buttons when you ask. You still decide where the decisions go, and you check each question against the video before you publish.
Can I add interactions to a Synthesia or HeyGen video?
Yes. Import the video from Synthesia or HeyGen when you create a video in Mindstamp, or upload the file you exported, then add interactions on its timeline. Viewers do not need a Mindstamp account to watch.
Start with one generated video
Pick one AI-generated video your team already uses. Add a question right after its most important point, publish it, and look at who answered correctly after a week. For training and course content, our guide to AI interactive video for training and education goes further.
