Oscars shut out AI-generated actors

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said on Friday that new rules for the 99th Oscars will not allow AI-generated performances or screenplays to be considered for awards.

The Academy’s official release says, “…in the Acting category, only roles credited in the film’s legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent will be considered eligible.”

This means that only acting roles performed by humans and credited in a film’s legal billing would be eligible for acting categories.

To be eligible for writing honors, screenplays must be written by humans. The Academy also has the right to ask for further details on how any movie used generative AI.

AI Val Kilmer project sparks eligibility debate

The restrictions come out as AI-generated characters get closer to being used in movies.

A project that used an AI-generated version of Val Kilmer, who died in 2025, brought up direct questions about digital performances after death and whether they should be eligible for awards.

Meanwhile, AI “actress” Tilly Norwood has been in the news a lot after talent agents said they wanted to represent the digital character last year.

After seeing what OpenAI’s Sora video generator could do, director and actor Tyler Perry shocked the industry in 2024 when he said he was stopping an $800 million expansion of his Atlanta studio complex.

Perry said at the time that the technology would “touch every corner of our industry” and cause a lot of actors, editors, and sound specialists to lose their jobs. Perry said, “There needs to be some kind of rules to protect us.”

However, OpenAI has discontinued Sora on April 26, according to a dedicated FAQs page. Access to Sora’s API will stop next in September. 

The usage of AI in movies was a major point of contention during the actors’ and writers’ strikes in 2023. The new Academy rules formalize protections that those labor actions sought to establish.

Hollywood will continue to use AI in movies

The laws don’t completely stop Hollywood from using AI in movies. Generative AI can still be used as a tool in film creation.

The Academy has made it clear that only people who perform and write are eligible for distinction as creative authors.

Hachette Book Group has already dropped a novel called “Shy Girl” because it seemed to employ AI. The novel was intended for publication in the United States this spring. The book will be discontinued in the United Kingdom, where it is currently available.

The Dolby Theater in Los Angeles will host the 99th Academy Awards on March 14, 2027. Movies that come out between January 1 and December 31, 2026, can be considered.

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