Generative AI comes to video editors.
If you’re editing video in 2025, chances are you’ve noticed a shift. Both DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere Pro are steadily weaving generative AI into our workflows. Tasks that were boring and slow can now be done faster with the use of AI. Neat.
I’ve been testing the DaVinci Resolve 20 Beta (currently beta 1, so it’s very early days) on a recent project—my Zowie EC2-CW video—and while it’s early days, it’s clear that Blackmagic is serious about using AI to improve the editor’s workflow in several ways.
Around the same time, in early April, Adobe released Premiere Pro 25.2, a stable update that also leans into new AI-driven features, powered by its Adobe Firefly engine.
What we’re seeing is two major platforms exploring and testing how they can implement generative AI in useful ways.
What’s new in DaVinci Resolve 20?
Resolve 20 introduces over 100 new features, many of them AI-enhanced.
In my limited test I got to try AI Animated Subtitles, and they worked really well. You can now consistently animate and highlight the spoken word using AI, very useful for short form content, think TikTok, Reels and Youtube shorts. It makes captioning much faster.
From the full release notes (linked here), here are some of the major updates:
- AI IntelliScript – Build timelines directly from scripts and transcriptions
- AI Multicam SmartSwitch – Cuts between angles based on speaker detection
- AI Audio Assistant – Automatically balances levels and mixes audio
- AI Set Extender – Generates visual fill for blank spaces in frams
- Magic Mask V2 – Improved object tracking and faster selections
- AI Detect Music Beats – Identifies beats in music for precise cutting
That said, as the name implies, Beta 20 is… still a beta. And editing one small project with it was more hassle than it was worth. I’ve run into frequent startup crashes and major instability when opening projects.
Davinci Resolve 20 beta is not quite ready to replace Resolve 19.5, so I’m keeping both versions side-by-side for now.
Whats new in Premiere Pro 25.2?
Adobe’s latest Premiere update is already stable, and its AI features are available to all users.
Some of the most notable tools include:
- Generative Extend – Adds a few extra seconds to a clip with AI-generated video
- AI Media Intelligence Search – Lets you search clips using phrases like “hands in kitchen”
- Auto Caption Translation – Supports 27 languages and multiple track
- AI-driven Color Management – Automatically adapts log and RAW formats
- Streamlined audio tools – Faster dialogue tagging, loudness balancing, and mixing
One difference to note is pricing. Adobe has what I feel is an exploitive pricing model, where you pay, what I peronally consider too much, every month. AI features changes nothing in that regard, quite the conratray. Adobe plans to charge for some of the AI features tools through a Firefly generative credit system.
Blackmagic, by contrast, is including their AI features without any mention of usage-based billing. Your licenser for previous Davinci Studio also carries over – buy once own for life.
Personally, I prefer Blackmagics approach. It feels more focused on empowering users than monetizing every click, every month.
You can see the full release notes in the screenshot below.
Where all this is going
Both platforms are exploring how to bring AI into editing in meaningful ways. And while their approaches differ—the end goal is the same: less time on repetitive, boring tasks, more time for creative work.
Automatically cutting to the beat, balancing levels, building captions and assembling rough cuts. These aren’t futuristic promises anymore, they’re features we can actually use.
As someone who edits from time to time, I find this shift exciting. It will, evnetually, make these applications more approachable to new users, that will lead to even creatoers. Ease of use opens up new possibilities.
Taste still matters. Timing still matters. AI can handle the setup, but the human touch still makes the final decision.
The tools are powerful, but how we use them still matters.