At 110, SMPTE Confronts AI's Disruption of Media Trust

At the IBC2026 exhibition, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is marking its 110th anniversary by confronting the significant disruptions artificial intelligence poses to media trust. The organization is actively addressing how AI impacts media trust, provenance standards, and the internal operations of SMPTE itself.

Reflecting on a Century of Media Technology

SMPTE President Rick Welsh noted that reaching the 110-year milestone has prompted the organization to look backward and forward at the same time. This reflective stance highlights how historical technological cycles mirror modern developments. For example, one of the group's original founders published a paper on stereoscopic 3D technology back in 1918.

A Historical Parallel to Modern VR

Welsh drew a unique parallel between early media devices and modern technology. Victorian-era stereoscopes allowed only one viewer at a time to see a 3D photograph. Today's virtual reality (VR) headsets operate under the exact same individual viewing dynamic. While the underlying technology has completely changed over the last century, the isolated viewing experience has come back around.

What This Means for AV Integrators

AV integrators must prepare for a landscape where media trust and provenance standards are increasingly defined by organizations like SMPTE in response to AI. As these standards evolve, integrators will likely need to deploy systems that can verify content authenticity and support secure provenance tracking to maintain client trust.