The Real Complexity of AI-Powered Video Calls: Distributed Systems, Not WebRTC

Building production AI-powered video platforms reveals a critical blind spot: integrating real-time ML inference creates distributed systems challenges that dwarf the WebRTC layer itself. The actual pain points—orchestrating multiple services across languages, managing ephemeral state via Redis, and gracefully handling partial failures—expose why infrastructure reliability matters as much as algorithm innovation. This architecture pattern becomes crucial as companies scale real-time AI features beyond simple demos.