In 2023 the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio Artists (“SAG-AFTRA”) and the Writers Guild of America (“WGA”) unsettled the film and television industry, joining in months-long strikes against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (“AMPTP”) regarding pay, working conditions and the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) in their respective industries. In the end, as to writers, AMPTP and WGA agreed that (1) AI may not write or rewrite scripts, (2) AI-generated material cannot be used as source material and (3) studios cannot force writers to use AI. AI protections for actors included provisions that (1) studios must obtain actors’ consent and compensate them for use of AI replicas, (2) AI cannot be used to create new performances without negotiation and (3) consent is required for the digital recreation of deceased actors.

Controversy over use of AI in motion pictures has been reignited after it was revealed that at least four films nominated for this year’s Oscars used some form of artificial intelligence in the filmmaking process. Notably, “The Brutalist” — boasting 10 nominations, including Adrian Brody for Best Actor and Felicity Jones for Best Supporting Actress — has come under fire for the use of the AI tool Respeecher to help Brody and Jones “nail the pronunciations of certain letters and sounds” in their Hungarian-language dialogue. Respeecher has the ability to “replicate voices and produce synthetic recordings that perfectly matched the originals.” According to the company’s CEO, Oleksandr Serdiuk, Respeecher has partnered with Hollywood studios that want to “resurrect a voice from the past… or just want more creative control over their project.” The AI tool was also used to clone and blend Best Actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón’s voice in “Emilia Perez,” because Gascón — a trans woman — “had already made her transition and there were [singing] registers that were no longer accessible to her.”

The Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” — nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress in a Supporting Role — used some AI in the filmmaking process as well. According to a spokesperson quoted in Variety magazine, AI was only used “to assist in 3 brief wide shots on a motorcycle, not involving performance or creative enhancements.”

Sci-fi film “Dune: Part Two” — nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Achievement in Visual Effects — was reported by Variety to have also utilized AI-machine learning technology to assist in the identification and replication of the striking blue eyes characteristic of the film’s Fremen characters. Notably, “Dune: Part One” (2021) made the creative choice to use only minimal computer generated imagery (“CGI”), and the franchise’s 1984 film (“Dune”) opted for hand-drawn animations.

Given the controversy over the use of AI in these Oscar-nominated films, particularly in “The Brutalist” and “Emilia Perez,” the Motion Picture Academy, according to Variety, has begun to consider requiring films submitted for Oscars to disclose their use of AI. With this in mind, Oscars 2025 is destined to mark the start of a new era for assessing creative contributions to our most honored films. For writers, actors and audiences the WGA and SAG-AFTRA agreements reached with the AMPTP just two years ago will be carefully scrutinized for their impact on movie-making for years to come.