I’m a video editor, do you know why I am not concerned about AI?

Written by Jake Michael Christian.

Not only am I a video editor, I’m also an all round videographer, photographer and tech lead. It’s almost impossible to go on any social media platform, networking or industry event without hearing why I should be afraid of AI taking my job. Maybe this is something that does scare you, or annoys you… or you just laugh it off, if you’re anything like me though, then this isn’t the way you see it.

I’ve always welcomed new technology in my professional career and in my personal interests outside of work such as gaming and creative writing. These areas, much like video production, have seen huge technological developments during my lifetime and that isn’t slowing down, so I think if you aren’t embracing it you actually might be missing out instead.

I believe that evolving AI tools can become an efficient and effective part of any creative or technical workflow as long as they are controllable, customisable and are used as tools as part of our work, rather than being used to create the work itself. Being part of an agency and working in a small team with like minded individuals who always want to push the standard and boundaries on each project helps in finding out where AI is useful and where it’s not actually adding any value. We recently shared an article on Adobe Enhance and real world examples of how we have been using it. This is something that wouldn’t have been possible for most of us five years ago and that is something we should celebrate!

As someone who has always been interested in technology and creative industries, I was excited to attend The Bristol Festival of Tech, Creativity + Culture (BTF+) where MyWorld - Bristol Bath hosted talks throughout the day. A common theme was the advancements and prominent use of AI within the creative industries. These talks covered areas from writing all the way through to post-production.

Dr Amy Spencer kicked off the day by highlighting a quote from James Bradley: “Why pay writers if you can get a machine to do it for free?” Although this talk focused more on the writing side, it inevitably sparked the same question, why would you pay a graphic designer, video editor or any creative person if a machine can do it for free?

While a machine can deliver something for free, this is precisely where human creatives are able to add true value. A machine bases its work on pre-existing data which is made up of old models and projects. To get a truly bespoke piece of work you will always need the unique perspective and the creative process of an individual; in particular the creative that you want to hire or work with because you love their unique style, vision or flair! The human element is what makes work special and means it isn’t simply being replicated, it’s something that is also evolving and different every time and to clients, that is invaluable.

Later in the day, the breakthroughs which are becoming possible because of AI and how they can benefit the world of post-production were demonstrated by Dr Nantheera Anantrasirichai and Fan Zhang. They respectively showcased new capabilities in de-noising low-light videos and advancements in video compression. Neither of these would be possible at this level without AI and in the near future they could really change the way in which we look at the videos we capture during production but also the data and storage limitations many of us currently face.

While many creatives are concerned with the evolution of AI, the examples above highlight that it is still a powerful tool which can be used to change the possibilities of what we can do in areas which might have once had no other options. One of the key areas that excites me in particular is speeding up power-intensive tasks, if you’ve added enough layers to a Premiere Pro or After Effects project before you know the feeling of wishing you could do something else but having to sit and wait. With the time we could be saving, creatives such as myself could actually spend more time doing what we love: creating.

Events like this highlight the ongoing innovation taking place in the South West and how companies are solving previously impossible challenges. This will only enable even more possibilities within pre-production, production and post-production as a whole new world of possibilities opens up, with human minds at the forefront of where that takes us.

Do you see AI as more of a threat, or an opportunity for creatives?