I recently tested whether an AI video editor could take messy raw footage and build a usable 60-second YouTube Short or Instagram Reel without me manually reviewing and cutting every clip first.
For this workflow, I used invideo editor with multiple AI presenter clips containing mistakes, false starts, pauses, repeated sentences, and different takes. I also uploaded supporting product footage and product images.


Instead of manually building the first cut, I created an AI editing agent and gave it a plain-language prompt telling it to:

  • review all uploaded presenter footage;
  • choose the cleanest takes;
  • remove mistakes, pauses, false starts, and repeated points;
  • keep each important idea only once;
  • insert relevant product footage when the presenter discusses the product;
  • keep the pacing suitable for Shorts and Reels;
  • create an editable 55–60 second first cut.


The AI agent then processed the footage and assembled the video directly on an editable timeline.
That last part is what interested me most.


Rather than simply generating a finished AI video, I could still review the cuts, see which clips the agent selected, give it another instruction to refine the edit, and then manually adjust the timeline myself.


So the workflow became:
Raw footage ? AI editing agent ? automatic first cut ? review ? AI refinement ? manual timeline editing ? finished 60-second Short


I recorded the complete workflow here:
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I also put the exact AI video editing prompt I used in the YouTube description, so you can copy it and adapt it for your own raw footage.


The interesting question for me isn't whether AI can replace video editors completely. It's whether AI can handle the repetitive part of reviewing takes, removing mistakes, selecting clips, and building the first cut, while the creator keeps control of the final edit.


If you're editing YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, or other vertical videos, would you trust an AI agent to create your first cut, or would you still prefer to edit everything manually?