Instagram launched Edits for Mac on Thursday. It’s a free video editor with multitrack editing, automatic captions, color grading, and watermark-free exports up to 4K. You can publish directly to Instagram or export your video for use elsewhere.
What caught my attention is the MCP integration; Instagram’s Matthew Simari told The Verge that an AI agent can use the editor’s tools to assemble a rough cut. You can then open the project and edit it yourself.
Think about that for a moment. You give your agent a folder of footage and a brief. It makes a first pass. You open the timeline, change what you don’t like, and finish the video.
I want to see how good that first pass will be. The ability to hand an agent an editing tool, then take over the work yourself, is worth paying attention to. Meta is giving creators another reason to make their videos inside its ecosystem.
One limitation: you can’t yet edit the same project on your phone and your Mac. While you can export without a watermark, you still have to check the rights to any music before using it commercially or on another platform.
How much of your creative workflow would you trust an agent to do?
Every company needs a Claw strategy. Do you have one?
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it. This work was created with the assistance of various generative AI models.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.