Insidious assistance: AI tools in documentary editorial practice

While the risks that emerging generative artificial intelligence (AI) pose to the artistic and ethical integrity of contemporary documentary practice have generated robust academic and professional debate, assistive AI film editing tools have received comparatively little scrutiny. Given that history demonstrates how central the adoption of new technologies is to the evolution of the documentary, the subtle integration of assistive AI tools into professional practice raises urgent questions about how they may reshape documentary process and form. To explore this issue within professional documentary practice, this study conducted qualitative interviews with twelve veteran documentary film editors from across the globe. These practitioners critically reflect on the technological and economic factors that drive the use of assistive AI as well as their resulting creative and craft implications. The findings reveal widespread concern about the encroachment of assistive AI into a frequently misunderstood artform that is vulnerable to financial pressures. Film editors link the use of assistive AI to the rise of highly formatted ‘un-scripted’ entertainment forms and express concern about a productivity paradox in which the normalization of these tools will entrench these programming models while eroding traditional documentary practices.