Which AI Video Editing Agent Actually Works? I Tested Them All (Here's The Brutal Truth)

The Battle For Your Time (And Money)

Alright, let's cut the crap. We're all sick of editing video by hand like medieval monks copying manuscripts.

So when "AI editing agents" started popping up, I thought: "Finally! This is going to change everything."

Spoiler alert: Most of them are pure marketing BS.

I've literally tested every tool that promises to "edit with AI" and I'm going to tell you the unfiltered truth. What works, what doesn't, and why you'll probably end up frustrated with most of them.

My Real Experience With Each One

EditFast (Yes, It's Mine, But Let Me Explain Why)

What it promises: An AI copilot that understands your project and does things for you.

What it actually does:
You tell it "make this clip stand out more" and:

Sees it's a person talking
Detects it's a bit dark
Applies color correction automatically
Asks if you want something more subtle

Real example from yesterday:
I had 20 clips from an interview and needed to remove all the "umms" and "basically"s. Instead of doing it manually clip by clip:

I said: "Remove all filler words from these clips"

The agent analyzed all audio
Identified 47 different filler words
Cut them automatically
Showed me the result in 3 minutes

Difference: 2 hours vs. 3 minutes.

Why it works: It's not a separate chatbot. It lives inside the editor and can touch real things.

Honest downsides: Sometimes gets confused with weird accents or really bad audio. But it asks when it's not sure.

Runway: The Hype Machine

What it promises: Generative AI that creates videos from nothing.

What it actually does: Cool effects that don't solve your daily grind.

Real example:
I wanted to "remove that person from the background of the video." Sounds amazing, right?

Reality:

Took 40 minutes to process 10 seconds
Result looked like it was from the 90s
Had to redo manually because it looked weird

The good: If you want super specific effects like "turn this video into a cartoon," it's incredible.

The bad: For normal day-to-day editing, it's slower than doing it yourself.

Who it actually works for: YouTubers making super creative content who have time to spare for experimentation.

Descript: The One That Almost Nails It

What it promises: Edit video like it's a Word document.

What it actually does: Exactly that, and it's really good at it.

Real example:
I had a 2-hour podcast and wanted to make 5 thirty-second clips.

How it went:

Uploaded the video
Got perfect transcription
Selected the text I wanted
Automatically cut those pieces

Total time: 15 minutes for 5 perfect clips.

Why it rocks: If your content is mainly people talking, it's a machine.

Why it's not perfect: If you want to do complex visual stuff (animations, effects, transitions), you're limited.

Who it works for: Podcasters, interviewers, anyone making spoken content.

Adobe Premiere with "AI": The Dinosaur Painting Its Nails

What it promises: All professional features + integrated AI.

What actually happens: You're still using Premiere (which is a pain) but now it has 3 AI features scattered around.

Real example:
I wanted to use "Auto Reframe" to convert a horizontal video to vertical.

The experience:

Took 20 minutes just to find the feature
Worked... sort of
Had to manually adjust 80% of the clips
In the end, doing it by hand was faster

The good: If you already know Premiere like a ninja, the AI features help a little.

The bad: You still need a master's degree in Adobe to do anything.

Who it works for: Professionals already trapped in the Adobe ecosystem who don't want to move.

The Questions That Actually Matter

Which saves me the most time?

EditFast (for general editing)
Descript (for spoken content)
Adobe (if you already know it)
Runway (almost never, but impresses in meetings)

Which is easiest to use?

Descript (super intuitive)
EditFast (you talk normally, it does things)
Runway (pretty but confusing)
Adobe (you need a PhD)

Which gives better results?
Depends on what you do:

Podcasts/interviews: Descript wins
General content: EditFast
Weird effects: Runway
Hollywood productions: Adobe (but you'll suffer)

The Reality Nobody Tells You

Here's the brutal truth:

90% of "AI for video" tools are cool demos that don't work in real life.

Why?

They promise magic, deliver mediocrity
They're built by engineers who've never edited a video
They focus on flashy, not useful

What do you actually need?

Something that understands your complete project
That does boring stuff for you
That lets you keep control
That works fast, not in 40 minutes

My Real Advice (Without Bias... Well, A Little)

If you do podcasts or interviews: Try Descript. It's really good for that.

If you already master Adobe and have time: Stay there and use the AI features they have.

If you want to experiment with weird effects: Runway is fine for playing around.

If you want a real copilot that understands normal editing: EditFast is what you're looking for.

The Future Is Here, But It's Not What You Expected

AI for editing isn't going to replace you. It's going to make the boring parts faster.

Don't look for: A "make viral video automatically" button

Look for: A tool that understands what you want and does the heavy lifting for you

The key: Don't get carried away by incredible demos. Ask yourself: "Will this save me time in my real workflow?"

Because at the end of the day, what matters isn't how impressive it looks on YouTube, but how much time it saves you when you have to deliver that video by tomorrow.

And trust me, I've been there.