AI Video Editors Are Trying to Replace Me and They’re Bad At It

My boss asked me to try AI video editing. Said it would “streamline our workflow.” Two weeks later, I’m watching an AI try to add sparkle effects to a funeral video. We’re not ready for this.

The AI Promised Land

Every video editing tool now screams about their AI features. Magic this, auto that. They promise to turn garbage footage into viral gold. Most of them just turn it into different garbage.

Flixier’s online video editor actually surprised me. Their AI features didn’t totally butcher my footage. It caught some things I would’ve made anyway. Still missed the subtle stuff, but it saved me some mindless clicking. Their video background removal worked without making people look like floating heads. Small wins.

I tried editing a food review video entirely with their AI tools. The good: it auto-generated chapters and caught all the plate transitions. The bad: it sometimes kept tagging some close-ups of pasta as “worms in motion.” Runway did something similar so...I think it's a common issue.

When AI Gets Weird

The AI tried generating video titles. Half of them sound like they were written by a robot having a stroke. It suggested “Happy Dancing Moments of Joy Experience” for a video about a local restaurant closing down. For a cat video, it spat out “Feline Entity Performs Physical Activities.” Pure poetry.

Auto-captions are another story. They work. Sometimes, too well. The AI caught every “um” and “uh” in my interviews. Had to waste time deleting them. Though it did catch some mumbled quotes I missed.

The Truth About AI Editing

Nobody’s telling you the real cost. These AI features burn through processing power like a crypto miner in a heatwave. What used to take 2 minutes now takes 10 because the AI needs to “analyze” everything.

Some editors won’t even let you turn the AI off. It’s like having an overexcited intern who has to check your work constantly. No, I don’t need help picking music for a two-second transition.

I tried using AI music generation for a client’s video. The algorithm created a trap beat for their corporate training content. The CEO loved it. The HR department didn’t. Now I have trust issues.

What Actually Works

Auto-scene detection in Flixier saves time. Their AI audio cleanup fixed a noisy interview without making my subject sound like a robot. That’s useful. Everything else feels like tech companies playing AI bingo.

The color correction AI isn’t horrible. Feed it a reference frame, it matches the rest. Saved my ass when a client shot half their testimonials with the wrong white balance. The AI fixed it faster than I could’ve done manually.

Auto-pacing tools are getting better. They catch dead air in interviews, flag sections where the energy drops. Sometimes they’re too aggressive — tried to cut out a dramatic pause that was actually important. But they’re learning.

The Future is Weird

I watched a YouTuber try to make an entire video using just AI tools and even brags about it over on Reddit. It looked like a fever dream edited by a hyper-caffeinated algorithm. His viewers loved it. Maybe I’m getting old.

Recently worked with a client who insisted on using every AI feature available. The result? A three-minute video that looked like five different editors had a fight in the timeline. But their social media engagement doubled. I don’t know what that says about humanity.

The scary part? The AI is learning. Last month it could barely track faces. Now it can identify emotional changes in interviews. It’s getting better at catching the moments I would’ve picked. Still makes weird choices, but fewer of them.

The AI editing revolution isn’t here yet. But it’s coming, stumbling forward like a drunk robot. For now, I’ll use the AI features that actually work and ignore the rest. Flixier’s got the right idea — use AI where it makes sense, not everywhere just because you can.

Just don’t let AI edit your wedding video. Your marriage deserves better than auto-generated transitions.