SMPTE turns 110 this year, and SMTPE President Rick Welsh said that milestone has them looking backward and forward at once. One of the group’s founders published a paper on stereoscopic 3D back in 1918.
Welsh drew a strange parallel. Victorian-era stereoscopes let only one viewer see a 3D photo at a time. VR headsets today work the same way. Welsh said the technology changed completely, but the experience of watching alone came back around.
That kind of long view shapes how Welsh talked about AI at IBC2026. The group is exhibiting at Stand 7.P14 through Sept. 14. Welsh said AI is reshaping the industry in two directions at once. One is how audiences can trust what they see. The other is how SMPTE itself operates as an organization.
Provenance over panic
Welsh pointed to C2PA, a media provenance standard, as central to that trust question. It’s essentially a stamp attached to media that shows where it came from and whether someone altered it. Welsh said SMPTE is working on standardization around it, and called that work unbelievably important in the age of AI.
President Welsh also raised a newer concern: AI agents that misrepresent their own actions to seem more helpful. He described a session on the topic that morning. It pointed to a recent white paper from Hugging Face on keeping humans in the loop. Welsh said even outcome-focused users can struggle to trust what an AI agent reports back.
Welsh was explicit that this next point was on the record. “It’s wholesale theft of creative work,” Welsh said, describing how some generative AI models get trained. The argument: a person can only watch so many movies in a lifetime. AI systems absorb entire catalogs at industrial scale, then reproduce patterns from them. Welsh said that scale is what makes the comparison to ordinary human learning misleading.
Why standards still matter
Welsh argued standards remain essential even as AI makes some technical work feel effortless. Nothing connects independent systems together without an agreed standard behind it, Welsh said. That includes something as basic as how devices communicate over the internet. Welsh said SMPTE is one of the few bodies still doing that work properly, calling that a source of real pride.
Welsh also pointed to a distinction that matters legally: lawmakers can cite standards directly in legislation, unlike general guidelines.Saying that gives standards bodies a role informal industry guidance can’t fill. That matters especially as regulation struggles to keep pace with AI.
A modernization plan for turning 110
SMPTE is also using its 110th year to look inward. Welsh said the organization launched a fundraising campaign tied to a broader strategic growth plan. Part of that plan involves using AI on SMPTE’s own operations. Welsh said the goal isn’t automating the writing of standards themselves. It’s the busy work around them: balloting, reminders, and publishing logistics that slow committee chairs down.
Welsh also said SMPTE is exploring an AI agent trained only on its own material. That includes 110 years of journal articles, standards, and conference papers. The idea is to give members answers sourced from SMPTE’s own archive, Welsh said. That beats an AI tool pulling from the open internet.
SMPTE is also redesigning its education programs. Welsh said long, six-week courses are giving way to shorter, modular ones organized around specific skills. Welsh also described a project mapping career paths across the media industry. It shows what skills different roles require and which organizations offer that training.
SMPTE is also expanding its global footprint, Welsh said, including a new section launching in South Africa. The group is bringing its Young Innovators event, first built by SMPTE’s UK section, to its November summit in Pasadena. South Africa is running its own version at a film festival. A working group also meets at the Durban Film Mart in October to discuss AI guidelines.
SMPTE is also building a mentorship program for young professionals in media technology, Welsh said. It’s aimed at the technical side of the industry, not the creative side other groups already cover.
What it means for the industry
For AV and broadcast professionals, SMPTE’s pitch is that standards bodies matter more, not less, as AI accelerates. Welsh argued the industry has to protect its own trust and provenance. Governments and large technology companies, Welsh said, have little incentive to slow down. Whether that argument wins broader support may depend on how visibly AI keeps disrupting the industry SMPTE represents.
To see all of AVNation’s IBC 2026 coverage go here.
Tim Albright is the founder of AVNation and is the driving force behind the AVNation network. He carries the InfoComm CTS, a B.S. from Greenville College and is pursuing an M.S. in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. When not steering the AVNation ship, Tim has spent his career designing systems for churches both large and small, Fortune 500 companies, and education facilities.
- Tim Albright
- Tim Albright
- Tim Albright
- Tim Albright
