Films made with AI can win Oscars, Academy says

Films made with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) will be able to win top awards at the Oscars, according to its organisers.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued new rules on Monday which said the use of AI and other digital tools would "neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination".

Generative AI - which can create text, images, audio and video in response to simple text prompts - helped to produce some of the films awarded top industry accolades in March.

But the Academy said it would still consider human involvement when selecting its winners.

The Academy said its new language around eligibility for films made using generative AI tools was recommended by its Science and Technology Council.

Under further rule changes announced on Monday, Academy members must now watch all nominated films in each category in order to be able to take part in the final round of voting, which decides upon winners.

The use of AI in film became a hot topic after Adrian Brody took home the award for Best Actor for his role in The Brutalist at this year's Oscars ceremony in March.

The movie used generative AI to improve the actor's accent when he spoke Hungarian.

It then emerged similar voice-cloning technology was used to enhance singing voices in the Oscar-winning musical Emilia Perez.

The technology's ability to quickly alter or match the tone and style of an artist, or perform edits such as subtly changing someone's appearance, has helped it become more popular in the production of music and film.

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But AI use remains controversial, and artists and actors have voiced concerns over the material used to train such tools and its impact upon their livelihoods.

Actors and screenwriters previously highlighted fears about losing work to AI during the 2023 strikes in Hollywood.

"If you can take my face, my body and my voice and make me say or do something that I had no choice about, that's not a good thing," actress Susan Sarandon told the BBC from a picket line.

And screenwriters are concerned studios would seek to cut costs and save time by using tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT for tasks such as researching, treatment and script writing, instead of humans.

Safeguards around the use of AI were established as part of the agreements reached between unions and studios that marked the end of the strikes.

But while some actors have seemingly embraced the technology, others, such as Scarlett Johansson, have issued warnings about its potential to allow abuse of their image or likeness.

Animators told the BBC in 2024 generative AI tools were not yet good enough to be able to replicate the quality of their work - certainly not to an award-winning standard.

"It's like having a bad writer help you," said Jonathan Kendrick, co-founder and chairman of global streaming service Rokit Flix.

"Sure it will get an outline done, but if you need something with emotional weight, an AI isn't going to get you an Oscar."