Text was just the beginning. This session moved into one of the most exciting — and most governance-sensitive — corners of AI for learning: tools that generate talking-head video and voiceover from a script. We looked at four of the big players, what each can and can't do, and the rules we have to work within at Lenovo.
The tools we compared
We put four AI video platforms side by side, looking honestly at strengths and limits rather than hype:
| Tool | Best at | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Synthesia | Polished avatar videos from a script; lots of languages; clean templates | Avatars can feel formal; edits mean re-rendering |
| HeyGen | Fast, natural-looking avatars; can build from existing slides | Quality varies by avatar; review for accuracy |
| Descript | Editing video by editing text; great for screen + voice cleanup | More an editor than an avatar generator |
| Colossyan | Scenario-style videos with multiple avatars; learning-focused | Newer; smaller template library |
Governance first
Because these tools create synthetic people and voices, we spent real time on the guardrails — this is where enthusiasm has to meet responsibility:
- What our Lenovo AI governance allows — staying inside approved tools and approved uses.
- The rules of the road — how generated content can and can't be used.
- What to watch out for — accuracy, likeness and data considerations, and always reviewing output before it ships.
- What to celebrate — the genuine wins: speed, scale, accessibility and consistency.
Prompting & live demos
We covered how to prompt these tools well — they each want a clean, well-structured script — and then I ran two short, live builds so the team could see the difference in approach:
- Synthesia, from scratch — starting with a blank project and building a short video end to end.
- HeyGen, from a starter deck — turning a PowerPoint I'd built for the occasion into a finished video, showing how an existing asset becomes a fast starting point.
Key takeaways
- Each tool has a sweet spot — match the tool to the job rather than defaulting to one.
- Governance isn't optional with synthetic media; know what's allowed before you build.
- A good script is the real input — prompt the video tool like you'd prompt any AI.
- Starting from an existing deck (HeyGen) can be far faster than building from scratch.
Delivered live to my team and recorded internally for anyone who missed it.