Every week there’s a new AI tool that claims it’s going to revolutionize video production. Most of them won’t. But some of them are genuinely useful, and if you’re in production, it’s worth knowing the difference.
Here’s where I actually see AI helping — and where I think the hype is way ahead of reality.
Where AI Is Actually Useful Right Now
Transcription and subtitling. This is the clearest win. AI-powered transcription is fast, accurate, and saves hours of work. We use it on almost every project now. What used to take a PA half a day to type out happens in minutes. Auto-generated subtitles aren’t perfect, but they get you 90% of the way there, and the cleanup is minimal.
Footage logging and organization. When you come back from a multi-day shoot with 50 hours of footage, AI tools that can scan, tag, and categorize clips save real time. Finding the take where the talent nailed the line used to mean scrubbing through hours of footage. Now you can search for it.
Audio cleanup. AI-powered noise reduction has gotten remarkably good. Background noise on location shoots — HVAC systems, traffic, wind — can be pulled out in ways that weren’t possible a few years ago without expensive studio time. For interview-heavy content, this is a game changer.
Color matching. When you’re cutting between footage from different cameras, different days, or different lighting conditions, AI color matching tools can get you to a consistent baseline faster than doing it manually. You still need a colorist for the final grade, but the rough match saves time in the edit.
Where the Hype Outpaces Reality
AI-generated video. The demos look impressive in 10-second clips on social media. In practice, AI-generated footage isn’t usable for professional commercial work. The consistency isn’t there — hands look wrong, physics break, lighting shifts between frames. For a brand that’s paying for quality, this isn’t ready. Maybe in a few years, but not today.
Automated editing. Some tools claim they can edit your video for you. What they actually do is string together clips based on basic rules — face detection, audio peaks, duration targets. The result looks like what it is: a machine’s best guess at what matters. Editing is storytelling. It requires understanding context, emotion, and pacing. AI doesn’t do that yet.
Script generation. AI can draft a script, sure. But the scripts read like AI wrote them — generic, safe, and forgettable. A good creative brief from a human who understands the brand will always produce better work than feeding a prompt into a tool and hoping for the best.
The Bottom Line
AI is a tool, not a replacement. The parts of production that are repetitive, time-consuming, and don’t require creative judgment — that’s where AI shines. The parts that require taste, instinct, and storytelling — that’s still human territory. The best production companies will use AI to work faster without using it as an excuse to work cheaper.
At Tigheland, we use AI where it makes our work better and faster. We don’t use it where it would make our work worse. That distinction matters.
Have questions about our production process? Reach out.
