Film and Video Editors
In short: today's best AI models could do about 78% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 92% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 8% of the time, stays with people.
Edit moving images on film, video, or other media. May work with a producer or director to organize images for final production. May edit or synchronize soundtracks with images.
25,610 people do this job in the US. $75,420 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on31 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet6 h
- Stays with people3 h
Film and Video Editors, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 31 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 6 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 3 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Review footage sequence by sequence to become familiar with it before assembling it into a final product (about 3 h); Cut shot sequences to different angles at specific points in scenes, making each individual cut as fluid and seamless as possible (about 3 h); Program computerized graphic effects (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 92%
- 6%
- 2%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 21%. Today's estimate: 78%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.042% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 241st largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 3 of its 22 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.13% to 0.061% (released February and March 2025); 0.056% to 0.14% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.034% to 0.042% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.13% | 138 of 708 | 9 of 22 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.061% | 235 of 703 | 7 of 22 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.056% | 229 of 655 | 5 of 22 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.11% | 140 of 672 | 8 of 22 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.14% | 129 of 677 | 10 of 22 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.034% | 259 of 434 | 2 of 22 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.042% | 241 of 447 | 3 of 22 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates almost none of this job's working time as physical work, so robots do not reach it.
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 22 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Review footage sequence by sequence to become familiar with it before assembling it into a final product.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 96%Half by now | |
| Organize and string together raw footage into a continuous whole according to scripts or the instructions of directors and producers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 73%Half by now | |
| Select and combine the most effective shots of each scene to form a logical and smoothly running story.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | 80%Half by now | |
| Edit films and videotapes to insert music, dialogue, and sound effects, to arrange films into sequences, and to correct errors, using editing equipment.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | 69%Half by now | |
| Manipulate plot, score, sound, and graphics to make the parts into a continuous whole, working closely with people in audio, visual, music, optical, or special effects departments.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 3.3 work days | 69%Half by now | |
| Develop post-production models for films.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | 69%Half by now | |
| Program computerized graphic effects.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 3.3 h50 min to 1 work day | 86%Half by now | |
| Cut shot sequences to different angles at specific points in scenes, making each individual cut as fluid and seamless as possible.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 96%Half by now | |
| Set up and operate computer editing systems, electronic titling systems, video switching equipment, and digital video effects units to produce a final product.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 6.7 h | 88%Half by now | |
| Trim film segments to specified lengths and reassemble segments in sequences that present stories with maximum effect.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 96%Half by now | |
| Determine the specific audio and visual effects and music necessary to complete films.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 96%Half by now | |
| Piece sounds together to develop film soundtracks.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | 86%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Motion Picture and Video Industries13,280 people
- Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers2,390 people
- Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services950 people
- Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations890 people
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services760 people
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Film and Video Editors is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 78% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 92% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Film and Video Editors come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Review footage sequence by sequence to become familiar with it before assembling it into a final product (96% of the task's time now); Cut shot sequences to different angles at specific points in scenes, making each individual cut as fluid and seamless as possible (96% of the task's time now); and Program computerized graphic effects (86% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Film and Video Editors stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Record needed sounds or obtain them from sound effects libraries; Supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in film editing, assembling, and recording activities; and Collaborate with music editors to select appropriate passages of music and develop production scores. Together such tasks are about 8% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Film and Video Editors?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.042% went to this job's tasks, the 241st largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 3 of its 22 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 22%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Film and Video Editors?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds almost none of the working time is physical work, so robots do not reach it.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 22 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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