You can use AI to edit videos for you, here's how
Hello, reader. My name is Brian, and I have the pleasure of working with Matthew Berman on his team. If you watch the Matthew Berman YouTube channel, you've seen my work.
For years now, I've loved the process: opening up editing software, dragging clips around, timing them to music, and telling a story. And for the last couple of years, I've had a feeling of dread, waiting for the day AI would be able to take over my job.
Now I'm watching it happen in real time.
It was a warm September night this year, 2026, when I tried an experiment I had run many times before. With pretty much every major frontier model release, I'd give it the same challenge: help me edit a video. That can mean a lot of different steps, because editing involves file management, dragging clips onto timelines, manipulating keyframes, finding B-roll, and a list of other steps I could make very long.
This was very shortly after GPT-6 Astra had been released, and I decided to put it to the test. I asked for a short-form reel edit to post to Matthew Berman's Instagram account, and then I walked away from the computer.
When I came back, I was really surprised. The video had some mistakes in it, but it was watchable.
So I turned on my microphone and said: start on a different frame. Use B-roll to explain what he's talking about. Change the title to something more snappy and interesting. I also gave it instructions to change the subtitles to a style I liked, and then I sent that prompt.
Twenty minutes later, Astra had finished its revisions, and I watched the video again. This time, I thought, "no way." I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was far better than anything I'd ever seen AI edit before. I messaged Alex, Matt's other editor and a close friend of mine, and we got on a call. I sent him the video and listened to his reaction as he watched. "You're telling me AI edited this? Oh my god." A little later, "Oh my god," again. We were both realizing that vibe editing had suddenly become incredibly real.
With this newfound power, it didn't take long for me to realize something. My computer could now edit videos for me while I watched Disney movies with my daughter. And I did just that.
And not long after that, I posted a tweet that got more attention than anything I've ever posted on X.
It passed 1.2 million views, and my replies filled up with questions from people wondering how they could do this themselves.
This article is my answer.
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