✂️ Will AI take our job?

You may have noticed something in the tech news recently

First it was ChatGPT last fall, then this year it was Microsoft Bing, then Google Bard. AI has arrived in a big way.

If you want a deep dive discussion on AI, check out this episode from Art of the Frame. But I have a feeling AI is going to change some things.

I want to look at how previous tech revolutions have changed editing and 4 ways we can always be ready for change.

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Technology has affected editors in the past

For decades, film and TV were edited by cutting the film. Eventually tape came along, but it was still a manual process of recording from tape to tape.

Then in the 1980s, George Lucas and his team began developing EditDroid. (Learn about this in the incredible Disney+ show, Light & Magic.) The software later became Avid Media Composer, and in 1992 Let’s Kill All The Lawyers became the first film to be edited digitally.

Digital editing dramatically lowered the bar of entry. You no longer needed an expense film editing table, or even a stack of VCRs to edit tape to tape. If you have access to a computer, you can become an editor.

The internet was another dramatic change in who could edit. Before the internet, if you wanted to become an editor you had to physically live in media-rich cities, like Los Angeles.

This is no longer the case. I daily see editors from Nigeria, India, Asia, and South America. Editors are able to make a living by accessing a global market. I’ve been a freelance editors for 3 years and 95% of my clients have been remote.

There are always losses in revolutions—but many gains

With every one of these changes, job positions were lost. If you were an expert in operating a Moviola, you slowly ran out of work as editing shifted to computers. If you had a network of people in your city you worked with, you may slowly lose them to lower-cost editors overseas.

But with every technological change, new jobs opened up. Lowering the bar of entry has allowed many people to become editors who never before could.

For those who were able to level up their skills and stay ahead of the curve, they found newer and often more profitable positions. (You can also see this at play in Light & Magic, when effects moved from practical to digital. Have I mentioned it’s a great show?)

But AI is different, right?

There is one fundamental difference with AI: it can do the editing. It’s not there yet, but I’m pretty confident that AI will one day be capable of organizing footage, cutting it together according to a script, maybe even address notes.

Our responsibility, if we want to edit for a long time, is to know more than just the mechanics.

Automation will free us to focus on more creative tasks; more discussions with the director; more experimentation; more time to refine emotion, story, and character.

4 things to prepare for AI in editing

Instead of ignoring or dismissing AI, I’m approaching it in four ways

1. Pay attention. We don’t need to read every article, but just keep an eye on it. See what develops in other industries, and how it trickles into editing.

2. Try it out. Apps like RunwayML have a free option. Give it a whirl and see what it can do.

3. Look for ways it can improve your process. As you try AI out, keep your process in mind and see if it can speed up your work.

4. Keep learning. A long-term editing career needs a learning attitude and always look for ways to grow.

Technology always enables the work to be done faster, cheaper, and by more people than previously.

Our job as career editors is to stay ahead of the curve. These 4 ways can help.

Helpful Links

• I’m looking for 20 editors to join me for live calls and get feedback on your edits, ask questions with other editors, and level up your career. If that’s you, join Editor Office Hours. We start April 17 and space is limited, so sign up soon before it opens up to the public.

• What if we treated our bodies and minds like we do our computers?

• The new film “Missing” is an incredible feat of storytelling, and the editors lay out their whole process.

Thanks for reading!

What’s your hot take on AI in editing? Hit reply and let me know.

I hope to see in Editor Office Hours!

Keep cutting

– Jesse