There’s a lot of hype surrounding the best AI tools for video editing and editors right now. Tools that promise everything from instant edits to fully synthetic productions often deliver more buzz or BS than results. But for professional video editors and creators, the real question isn’t whether AI is the future. It’s whether it can actually save time and improve creative output today.
I decided to put this list together after seeing a LinkedIn post from Amsterdam based Director and Producer, Bas Goossens, Bas is a friend of mine and of RedShark. His production company produce content for Netflix, major international brands and also produces still and video footage for ultra premium European real estate agents.
His post opens with “Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the role AI will play in photography and film. And to be honest – I feel pretty positive about it. At Flare Department, a big part of our work is deeply creative, but there’s also a side that’s repetitive and time-consuming (hello, endless white balance tweaks). If AI can take over those more mundane tasks, it gives us more time and space to focus on what really matters: the meaning behind an image, the story it tells, and how it fits into a larger context.”
I think that sums up our feelings on it so far. I’ve seen shocking videos on TikTok of (admittedly enthusiastic) putting footage into ChatGPT to get a color grade, and, errr, it just doesn’t look better than a standard LUT. As Bas continues, “This shift, I think, won’t make creative vision less important. It’ll make it more important. Having a deep, grounded understanding of your craft – technically, creatively, and theoretically – will be even more essential to stay relevant. You have to know exactly what you want an image to look like, and crucially, why.”.
The good news is, some AI tools have moved well beyond gimmick territory. They’re solving real-world post-production challenges: speeding up tedious tasks, improving quality, and unlocking new creative options. Here are six AI-powered tools that we have tested, tried and believe are genuinely useful for working and aspiring video editors.
1. Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects (Powered by Adobe Sensei)
Adobe has quietly embedded powerful AI capabilities into its video tools via Adobe Sensei, the company’s machine learning platform. Rather than adding flashy features for the sake of it, Adobe has focused on automating some of the most time-consuming parts of editing. Adobe’s openess around AI should also be applauded.
In Premiere Pro, AI tools include the incredible, just released generative extend, that can extend a clip/ sequence (we covered that here) as well as helpful tools like filler word detection (very very useful at trade show interviews) auto reframe, which intelligently adjusts aspect ratios for different social platforms, and scene edit detection, which quickly splits up long clips based on camera changes. Editors working with social or corporate content will find the time saved here adds up fast.
In After Effects, the Rotobrush 2 tool is now vastly more usable thanks to AI-powered edge detection (we love it). Complex mask work that once took hours can now be handled with just a few strokes. For anyone doing motion graphics or compositing, this alone can justify staying in the Adobe ecosystem.
Adobe’s open approach to AI is rooted in enhancing existing workflows, which makes sense to us. That makes it an easy fit for professionals who don’t want to change how they work, but do want to work faster.
2. DaVinci Resolve’s Neural Engine (Blackmagic Design)
Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve has of course long been respected for color grading, but the integration of its Neural Engine back in 2024 (we wrote about it here) has turned it into a serious AI-assisted editing powerhouse. Later than Adobe to embracing AI features, but they have arrived with very strong and helpful tools.
The Neural Engine powers features like face detection, smart reframing, and speed warp retiming. Speed warp, in particular, stands out. It uses optical flow and machine learning to create remarkably smooth slow motion from regular footage. The result is cleaner and more convincing than traditional interpolation methods.
Resolve’s object removal tool is another example of AI doing something that used to require hours of manual work. In just a few clicks, unwanted elements can be tracked and removed with surprising accuracy.
For editors working in narrative, documentary, or commercial formats (that is to say, most of you), the Neural Engine provides professional-grade automation without compromising control. And because it’s built into Resolve, it’s ready to go without requiring third-party plugins and it comes at a stand alone cost, no monthly subscription.
3. HeyEddie.ai — Your AI Assistant for Rough Cuts and Interview Editing
Now this is where things get interested. It is not just the big boys like Adobe and Blackmagic producing tools worth using, HeyEddie.ai positions itself as a “ChatGPT for video editing” and lives up to that promise by speeding up the rough-cut process for interview-driven content—especially for multi‑camera shoots. Launched in early 2025 we were actually early adoptors testing the BETA back in late 2024. This product works and works well, we still use it now for rough cuts on long form interviews. It uses prompt‑based workflow (that looks and acts a LOT like ChatGPT) driven by AI to analyse your footage and generate smart cuts in literal seconds. See our early review here.
Here’s how HeyEddie helps pro and prosumer editors:
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Instant Rough Cuts: Upload your A‑roll and B‑roll; ask for a “stronger hook” or “short punchy version,” and Eddie generates a rough cut that often needs only minor tweaks
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Multicam Logging and Editing: Automatically detects and syncs A‑ and B‑roll, organising bins for easy selection
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Exportable to Major NLEs: Once the draft is ready, export a timeline directly to Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut Pro for final polish
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Fast Iteration: Eddie’s conversational UI lets you adjust cuts with simple text prompts—say “make it 60 seconds” or “remove the stutter,” and it refines the cut in seconds
For editors handling talking‑head pieces, conference recaps, or interview clips, HeyEddie.ai can save hours of headphone‑jolting scrubbing. It won’t replace deep narrative editing, but it handles the rough cut with surprising speed and finesse, leaving creatives to focus on story arcs, fine pacing, and style. The founder, Shamir (who also founded SimonSays – another tool we use for transcripts) is a genuine genius too and their product videos are well worth a watch!
4. Descript: Edit Video Like a Document
If you’re cutting interviews, podcasts, tutorials, or any spoken-word-heavy content, Descript may become your favourite new tool. Its standout feature is the ability to edit video by editing the transcript.
This is not a nvel or new thing, we have used SimonSays for this for a while, but Descript is built for it. Descript automatically transcribes your footage and lets you cut, move, or delete sections simply by modifying the text. It also offers “Overdub”, a very smart AI voice cloning tool that can generate missing voice lines based on a speaker’s real voice. That’s especially handy for fixing mistakes without having to re-record entire lines.
For editors used to manual scrubbing and razor tools, this might feel like cheating. But once you’ve cut a 30-minute interview down to five minutes in half the time, you’ll understand the appeal.
Descript isn’t built for complex timeline edits or cinematic sequences. But for short-form content, online education, or content marketing, it’s one of the most efficient tools on the market.
5. Topaz Video AI: Upscaling and Restoration that Works
High-end post houses have had access to restoration tools for years, but Topaz Video AI brings powerful enhancement capabilities to a much broader range of users.
Its suite includes frame interpolation, de-noising, upscaling, and deblurring features, all powered by deep learning models trained on thousands of video samples. Whether you’re trying to rescue low-light footage, convert 1080p to 4K, or restore archival material, Topaz handles it with shockingly good results. Everyone that uses it raves about it!
One of its more impressive features is slow motion interpolation, which uses AI to generate new frames with minimal artifacting. This is incredibly useful for editors who didn’t shoot in high frame rates but need fluid motion for stylistic or narrative reasons.
While it’s not a replacement for traditional grading or finishing tools, Topaz excels in those edge cases where footage quality needs a serious boost. Think of it as a rescue tool — one that can make borderline clips usable.
6. Colourlab AI: Smart Color Grading Assistance
Color grading is as much art as science, but that doesn’t mean it has to be slow. Colourlab AI blends artistic intuition with machine learning to assist colorists and editors in grading faster and more consistently. I’ve left this til the end to show the difference from the TikTok’er using ChatGPT in my opening words, and using a dedicated tool made by a world class Colorist (Dado Valentic).
One of its standout features is LUT matching, where it analyses reference imagery and automatically applies a similar grade to your footage. It’s also capable of look transfer from one clip to another, which is great for matching cameras, lighting conditions, or scenes shot at different times. Very very helpful.
The tool doesn’t grade for you, but it gets you 80 percent of the way there — fast. For freelancers or small teams without dedicated colorists, Colourlab offers a huge boost in quality without requiring a steep learning curve.
It also integrates with DaVinci Resolve, making it a natural companion for editors already using that platform.
My Final Thoughts: Choose AI That Fits Your Workflow
AI in video editing is no longer about novelty or wether you are an AVID/ Premiere, Resolve, FCPX guy/ girl. It’s about efficiency. The tools that stand out in 2025 are the ones that respect the editor’s process. They don’t replace creativity — they remove the bottlenecks that slow it down, just as Bas says.
Whether you’re looking to shave hours off an edit, maintain quality across large batches of content, or handle more client work without burning out, there’s an AI tool that can help. The key is choosing solutions that integrate well into your current workflow and genuinely solve the problems you face every day.
Stay skeptical of the hype, but don’t ignore the progress. The future of editing isn’t machine-made. It’s machine-assisted, and it’s already here.
