I didn’t start using AI for video editing because I wanted to “optimize my workflow.” It started much more simply. In early March, I had 30+ raw clips sitting on my drive and no motivation to edit them. Each one was between 8 and 15 minutes long. They were just screen recordings, talking-head explanations, and random test videos I had recorded over the past month. Normally, this would mean at least a week of editing. But I decided to do something different: I would try to turn all of them into Shorts using AI tools in 7 days. Not as a productivity experiment, more because I was curious whether AI would actually reduce friction or just create a different kind of work. Day 1: The First Reality Check I started with Opus Clip because it was the most recommended tool everywhere. I uploaded a 12-minute tutorial video expecting it to “find the best moments automatically.” It did generate about 8 clips in a few minutes. The first problem showed up immediately. Half of the clips started mid-sentence.…