Brett LindenbergAI can now do seven jobs in an interactive video. It can draft quiz questions from what the video says and answer viewer questions inside the player. An AI agent can also add interactions to a video and read its results for you. Mindstamp imports AI-generated video from Synthesia and HeyGen, and its other AI features work on video you already have. Each feature leaves the judgment to a person, such as which question is worth asking and whether an AI answer is correct. The phrase "interactive AI video" also describes a video avatar you talk with in real time and AI models that generate explorable video worlds. The 90-second recording below shows two of the seven jobs on one economics lesson: AI turns it into a five-question quiz, and Genie AI answers a viewer's question about it.
Three things "interactive AI video" can mean
| Meaning | How it works | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive video with AI features | A video plays with questions, branches, and buttons on top of it. AI helps build the layer, translate it, or answer viewers. | Available today in interactive video platforms. Mindstamp's features are described below. |
| Conversational avatar video | An AI avatar listens and replies in real time, like a video call with a character. | Sold as products and APIs, for example Synthesia Roleplay Sessions for practice conversations and HeyGen's LiveAvatar real-time avatar API. |
| Generated interactive worlds | A world model generates each frame in response to the user's controls, so the user moves through a scene that did not exist before. | Google DeepMind announced Genie 3 in August 2025 as a limited research preview. It generates worlds you can move through at 24 frames per second in 720p, and they stay consistent for a few minutes. |
Mindstamp's Genie AI, the in-video assistant described below, is unrelated to Google DeepMind's Genie 3. The rest of this guide covers the first meaning, the one you can add to your own videos today. For a training program built on AI video, see our guide to AI interactive video training.
What AI does in an interactive video today
The table lists each job as it works in Mindstamp in October 2026, and the work that stays with you.
| Job | What AI does | What you still do |
|---|---|---|
| Make the source video | Synthesia and HeyGen generate avatar videos that you import from a connected account | Write and check the script, then add the interactions |
| Transcribe | Turns speech into a timed, searchable transcript and an English caption track | Correct names, numbers, and product terms |
| Draft questions | Writes up to 20 multiple-choice questions from the transcript and spaces them through the video | Check each answer, move each question to its moment, and add feedback |
| Translate and dub | Translates buttons, questions, and player text, and can add a dubbed voice track, captions, and transcript | Protect brand terms and review sensitive content |
| Read aloud | Reads questions and answers in one of 13 generated voices, and messages and Genie answers in one of 10 | Choose where spoken text helps your viewers |
| Answer viewer questions | Genie AI answers from the transcript and your notes, and says so when it cannot answer | Add missing facts and read the questions it could not answer |
| Work as an agent | Claude, ChatGPT, or another MCP client adds interactions, changes settings, and reads results | Approve its access and confirm high-impact actions such as publishing |
Make the source video with AI
AI video generators turn a script into a video with a presenter and a voice. Mindstamp imports from Synthesia and HeyGen after you connect your account on the New video page, and Synthesia's integration guide covers the steps on the Synthesia side. Video from any other generator can be uploaded as a file. Mindstamp adds the interactive layer on top and does not change the source file. Our post on generative AI and interactive video covers why a generated video needs something for the viewer to do, and the AI video differentiation example shows one way to add it.
Transcribe what is said
Create Transcript turns the speech in an uploaded video or an MP4 link into text with times. Viewers can read and search the transcript beside the player and select a line to jump to that moment. Mindstamp also builds an English caption track from it. The transcript matters beyond captions, because question generation, Genie AI, and full audio dubbing all read it. A misheard product name can end up in a quiz answer, a Genie reply, and a dubbed voice track, so correct the transcript before you use any of them. YouTube and HLS sources cannot have a transcript (how video transcripts work).
Draft quiz questions from the transcript
Select Generate questions on the Transcript page, or Create Quiz on a video with no interactions yet, and choose how many questions you want, up to 20. The AI writes multiple-choice questions with one correct answer each and spaces them evenly through the video. You review the drafts, remove the ones you do not want, and save the rest as ordinary questions that pause the video and score each answer. The question builder is available on every plan. We announced the AI question builder on LinkedIn in December 2023, and it now drafts up to 20 questions per run.
Check every draft before viewers see it. The AI cannot see the screen, and it can mark a wrong answer as correct. Our guide to turning any video into a quiz with AI covers the review step by step. For a list of questions without a video player, our free video quiz generator drafts them from a pasted transcript.
Translate and dub the whole experience
An audio dub alone leaves the buttons, questions, and forms in the original language. Mindstamp translates into 57 languages, and its Translate page offers two modes:
- Interactions only translates the buttons, questions, forms, hotspots, text overlays, and player text, and keeps the original audio. It needs no transcript and is included on every plan.
- Full audio dub also adds an AI voice track, captions, and a transcript in each language. The dubbed track holds only the new voice, without the original music and sound effects. It needs a finished transcript, takes about four minutes per language, and uses dubbing minutes (how AI dubbing is priced).
Viewers get their language from their browser, from the language menu in the player, or from a link that ends in ?lang=fr or another language code. Protected terms keep product names, acronyms, and variables such as {{NAME}} unchanged. The dub is timed to the video, but it does not match mouth movement. Translation quality varies by language and topic, so have a fluent reader check legal, medical, and safety content. See video translation and dubbing, the translation steps in our help center, and our guide to translating an interactive video.
Read questions and messages aloud
Mindstamp added spoken messages and AI voices in April 2026. Turn on Speak Question in a question's settings to have the question and its answers read in one of 13 generated voices. The voice is made when you save the question, so every viewer hears the same reading. Speak messages aloud in Settings reads messages, and Speak Genie answers aloud reads Genie's replies. Those two settings share one voice, chosen from 10. Spoken text helps viewers who prefer to listen (accessibility features in Mindstamp).
Answer viewer questions inside the video
Genie AI is an assistant inside the player. A viewer types a question, and Genie answers only from the video's transcript and the supplemental information you add, such as prices or contact details. When those sources do not contain the answer, Genie says so instead of guessing. If viewers can use the seek bar, Genie lists the moments in the video that support its answer, and selecting one jumps there. When a viewer watches in a language other than English, Genie answers in the language of the question. The Genie AI tab lists every question with Genie's answer, and the Unanswered filter shows what the video and your notes leave out, which tells you what to add to the next version. Genie AI is on Core and higher plans. See Genie AI, how Genie answers, and our guide to adding an AI assistant to any video. The video assistant scope example walks through what an assistant should do when the transcript cannot settle a question.
Ask ChatGPT is a separate feature. As a click action, it opens a ChatGPT window inside the player where the viewer types a question. As a navigation, it sends a prompt you write, which can include variables, and saves the reply in a variable. It answers from general knowledge and is not limited to your video. Ask ChatGPT runs on Mindstamp's own OpenAI access, so you need no OpenAI account or API key. Viewers get answers only on a video that also has Genie AI turned on or an Open Genie AI interaction. Use Genie when answers must stay within your own content, and Ask ChatGPT for open-ended help. Our ChatGPT announcement has the background, and the list of click actions shows where each one fits.
Let an AI agent build and report through MCP
In September 2026, Mindstamp released an MCP server, so an AI assistant such as Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor can work in your Mindstamp account. The account owner first turns on AI features. Then you add https://app.mindstamp.com/mcp as a remote MCP server in your AI client and sign in with OAuth (how to connect an AI agent to Mindstamp). After that, the agent can:
- List and read videos, transcripts, interactions, views, question results, and reports.
- Add questions, buttons, hotspots, and text, and set chapters, lead capture, and end screens.
- Change video settings and design, get share links, and create personalized links.
A request can be as plain as "Add a multiple-choice question after each section of my onboarding video and show me the list before you save." The agent acts as the user who signed in and cannot do anything that user cannot do. Publishing, access changes, account branding, and deleting a video need confirmation after a person approves. Mindstamp logs each action, and many changes can be undone. The owner can revoke an agent or turn AI features off at any time. Reads work on paid plans, and changes need a plan with API access (agent permissions and safety). Agents cannot yet manage playlists, certificates, or billing, and the help article lists the other gaps. See Mindstamp for AI agents and the MCP server release notes.
What AI still cannot do for interactive video
- Mindstamp's AI features work from the transcript and cannot read the picture. A question about a chart, a menu path, or a product detail that is only shown is yours to write.
- AI can draft a branch or a question, but it does not know which choice matters to your viewer or what should happen after a wrong answer. You decide what each interaction is for.
- AI output can be wrong. Check AI questions against the video, have a fluent reader review translations of sensitive content, and read Genie's answers in the Genie AI tab.
- Mindstamp times a dubbed voice to the video, but the dub does not match mouth movement.
Each AI feature that you use in a video, such as question generation or Genie AI, sends the content it needs to an AI model provider to produce its result. Agent access through MCP stays off until the account owner turns on AI features. For a security review, see how Mindstamp's AI features handle your data.
How to add AI to an interactive video you already have
- Open the video, select Transcript, and create the transcript. Correct the names and terms it misheard.
- Generate questions, keep the ones that test something your viewers need, and move each one to just after the idea it tests.
- Turn on Genie AI. Under Supplemental Info, add the facts viewers ask about that the video does not say.
- Translate the interactions for each language your viewers use, and add a full audio dub where they need to hear it.
- Preview in a private browser window. Ask Genie one question the video answers and one it does not, and open the share link with
?lang=and a language code. - After the first week of views, open the Genie AI tab and filter to Unanswered. Add the missing facts to Supplemental Info, or cover them in the next version of the video.
Common questions
What is an interactive AI video?
Usually it means a video with an interactive layer, such as questions, branches, and buttons, where AI helps make the video or runs part of the experience. It can also mean a real-time conversation with an AI avatar, or a research model that generates a video world as you move through it.
Can AI generate an interactive video from a prompt?
In parts. AI can generate the source video from a script and draft the quiz questions. An AI agent connected through Mindstamp MCP can then add questions, buttons, and hotspots to a video in your account. A person still chooses the goal, checks the content, and confirms before the agent publishes. Models that generate every frame in response to the viewer, such as Genie 3, exist as research previews.
Is Mindstamp's Genie AI related to Google's Genie 3?
No. Genie AI is Mindstamp's in-video assistant that answers viewer questions from a video's transcript. Genie 3 is a Google DeepMind world model that generates interactive environments.
Can AI make my existing videos interactive?
Yes, without changing the video file. Mindstamp works on uploads and on videos you host on Vimeo, Wistia, Kaltura, and other platforms. AI can draft the questions and translations, and you place and check them in the editor (which video sources Mindstamp accepts).
Where to start
Pick the video that generates the most repeat questions from viewers, such as a product walkthrough or an onboarding lesson. Create and correct its transcript, turn on Genie AI, and generate three to five questions for its key points. After a week, read the questions viewers asked Genie and the Questions report, and fix the part of the video that both point to. To see every interaction you can add next to these AI features, browse the Mindstamp features.
