AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Film and Video Editors?

Task-level automation exposure for Film and Video Editors: 22 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

E-E-A-T Verified

Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

53% weighted task index

22 of 22 tasks scored

Median Salary

$75,420 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Medium

25,610 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+3.7% employment change

3,100 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 43 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$38,800 – $103,440

Highest medians

New York $103,440

District of Columbia $98,830

Massachusetts $92,130

California $88,490

Colorado $84,620

Lowest medians

Alaska $38,800

South Dakota $39,090

Montana $42,520

Puerto Rico $44,490

Arizona $45,840

State figures come from the 27-4032 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 53%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 9%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 64%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 0%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 12/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

22 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 31%

7 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 55%

11 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 14%

4 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Emerging & rewritten tasks

Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.

New 08/2020 · Incumbent

Write scripts.

Constituent Tasks

#4057 · Core · 55% automatable

Organize and string together raw footage into a continuous whole according to scripts or the instructions of directors and producers.

visual inspection — AI assists cuts; editorial and technical judgment human

Edit audio or video recordings.

#4052 · Core · 55% automatable

Edit films and videotapes to insert music, dialogue, and sound effects, to arrange films into sequences, and to correct errors, using editing equipment.

visual inspection — AI assists cuts; editorial and technical judgment human

Edit audio or video recordings.

#4053 · Core · 64% automatable

Select and combine the most effective shots of each scene to form a logical and smoothly running story.

text generation — Content selection aided; audience judgment human

Edit audio or video recordings. Determine presentation subjects or content.

#4060 · Core · 45% automatable

Review footage sequence by sequence to become familiar with it before assembling it into a final product.

decision support — Content curation aided; editorial accountability human

Manage content of broadcasts or presentations.

#4061 · Core · 40% automatable

Set up and operate computer editing systems, electronic titling systems, video switching equipment, and digital video effects units to produce a final product.

visual inspection — AI assists cuts; editorial and technical judgment human

Edit audio or video recordings. Operate communications, transmissions, or broadcasting equipment.

#4066 · Core · 55% automatable

Trim film segments to specified lengths and reassemble segments in sequences that present stories with maximum effect.

visual inspection — AI assists cuts; editorial and technical judgment human

Edit audio or video recordings.

#4050 · Core · 55% automatable

Cut shot sequences to different angles at specific points in scenes, making each individual cut as fluid and seamless as possible.

visual inspection — AI assists cuts; editorial and technical judgment human

Edit audio or video recordings.

#4058 · Core · 45% automatable

Review assembled films or edited videotapes on screens or monitors to determine if corrections are necessary.

decision support — Content curation aided; editorial accountability human

Manage content of broadcasts or presentations.

#4056 · Core · 85% automatable

Verify key numbers and time codes on materials.

data analysis — Data accuracy verification is rule-based and reliable

Verify accuracy of data.

#4064 · Core · 55% automatable

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.

visual inspection — AI assists cuts; editorial and technical judgment human

Edit audio or video recordings.

#4059 · Core · 60% automatable

Program computerized graphic effects.

visual inspection — Generates CG and animation; art direction and rigging human

Create computer-generated graphics or animation.

#4051 · Core · 72% automatable

Study scripts to become familiar with production concepts and requirements.

text generation — Script comprehension and requirement extraction well handled

Study scripts to determine project requirements.

#4065 · Core · 30% automatable

Supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in film editing, assembling, and recording activities.

interpersonal — Coordinating production personnel is live supervisory work

Coordinate activities of production personnel.

#4055 · Supplemental · 72% automatable

Determine the specific audio and visual effects and music necessary to complete films.

text generation — Content selection aided; audience judgment human

Determine presentation subjects or content.

#4054 · Supplemental · 12% automatable

Mark frames where a particular shot or piece of sound is to begin or end.

physical manipulation — Labeling production materials is manual

Label production materials.

#4062 · Supplemental · 20% automatable

Record needed sounds or obtain them from sound effects libraries.

physical manipulation — Recording equipment physically set up and operated

Operate audio recording equipment.

#4069 · Supplemental · 72% automatable

Conduct film screenings for directors and members of production staffs.

text generation — Providing routine information to coworkers is text-based

Provide information to coworkers.

#4071 · Supplemental · 55% automatable

Discuss the sound requirements of pictures with sound effects editors.

interpersonal — Technical detail negotiation is interactive human work

Collaborate with others to determine technical details of productions.

#4068 · Supplemental · 55% automatable

Piece sounds together to develop film soundtracks.

visual inspection — AI assists cuts; editorial and technical judgment human

Edit audio or video recordings.

#4063 · Supplemental · 55% automatable

Confer with producers and directors concerning layout or editing approaches needed to increase dramatic or entertainment value of productions.

interpersonal — Technical detail negotiation is interactive human work

Collaborate with others to determine technical details of productions.

#4067 · Supplemental · 72% automatable

Develop post-production models for films.

text generation — Promotional copy and graphics largely AI; human approves

Develop promotional materials.

#4070 · Supplemental · 20% automatable

Collaborate with music editors to select appropriate passages of music and develop production scores.

interpersonal — Collaborative artistic production needs live human coordination

Collaborate with others to prepare or perform artistic productions.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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