Although video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) offers clear advantages, including minimal trauma and rapid recovery, stable intraoperative visualization still depends heavily on the camera assistant. Traditional manual endoscope holding is therefore susceptible to several limitations, including image instability, assistant fatigue, and poor coordination with the primary surgeon. Operating in complex and confined anatomical spaces with a rigid thoracoscope further increases the demands on hand-eye coordination. Thoracoscopic camera-holding technology has progressively evolved from passive support systems to active camera holders and robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) platforms, and is now advancing toward artificial intelligence-driven tracking and intelligent control. Based on this, a series of devices, including multifunctional intelligent assistant arms and active camera-holding arms for thoracic surgery, have been developed and have attracted increasing attention. This article reviews the development of intelligent camera-holding assistant arms and discusses related advances and future directions in the field.