Don’t Let AI Rewrite Your Script

What we learned when AI tried to help and made things up instead

There’s a growing trend in post-production: using AI tools for more and more of the process. Logging, organizing, pulling selects, even rough cutting. And we get it, when you’re staring down hours of footage, anything that promises to save time sounds like a gift.

But here’s the thing. Not all shortcuts take you where you want to go.

Ben recently ran an experiment. He asked an AI tool to pull selects from a client script. At first, things looked promising, until the selects started including full lines of dialogue that no one had ever said.

Not misheard. Not mis-transcribed.

Invented.

Turns out, AI doesn’t just follow instructions. It fills in gaps, makes assumptions, and occasionally decides to flex its creative muscles. Great for fiction. Not so great for commercial edits that need to stick to the script.

Why That Matters

In editing, precision matters. Especially in client work, where tone, voice, and messaging are everything. AI tools don’t understand tone. Or subtext. Or when silence is the point. They just… guess. And sometimes, those guesses are wrong.

That’s where the human eye (and ear) comes in.

What AI Is Good For 

We’re not anti-AI. We use it. We appreciate it. It saves us time when it’s used thoughtfully. Here’s what we’ve found AI is genuinely helpful for:

✅ Transcribing footage quickly ✅ Cleaning up noisy voices ✅ Various tools inside your editing software ✅ Creating a rough outline for your video

But here’s what it shouldn’t be doing:

🚫 Creating rough cuts 🚫 Interpreting tone or context 🚫 Making story decisions 🚫 “Filling in” lines that were never there 🚫 Replacing an actual editor

Human Editors Still Matter

There’s no plug-in for knowing what feels right. No algorithm can understand pacing, emotional resonance, or what wasn’t said but still lingers in a scene. That’s the stuff that makes an edit land.

And that’s why we’re still doing this work, with our human hands, our ears, and a lot of attention.

If you’re experimenting with AI in your workflow, we get it. Just be careful when you hand over the wheel and don’t forget to check your work!

If you’re looking for selects that actually exist in your footage, we’re here. Happy Creations is always open for new projects, big or small.

Contact us today to get started on your next post-production project! =)