Oscars Preview: Is it okay to use AI in films? | The Triangle
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Oscars Preview: Is it okay to use AI in films?

Jan. 31, 2025
Photo by Zoetnet | Flickr

Last week, this year’s Academy Award nominations were released. As with every year, there were some snubs, some surprises and a few overall shocking decisions. Even the fact that the ceremony is being held at all is a shock to many, considering the massive fires that hit the Los Angeles region so recently. However, the show must go on apparently, and in just over a month, numerous questions will be answered, the one at the top of a lot of people’s heads being “Is it ok to use artificial intelligence in film?”

This question and the topic as a whole have dominated this awards season because, for the first time ever, a film that has openly taken advantage of technology is nominated – not just one, but two of the most acclaimed films of the year. Leading the way with 13 nominations is “Emilia Pérez,” a musical comedy about a transgender Mexican woman, written and directed by a French man. Right behind that is “The Brutalist,” a three-and-a-half-hour epic about an immigrant architect, featuring an electric performance from Adrien Brody.

Despite both films’ respective acclaim from the Academy and those in the industry, amongst the public, they have not exactly been massive hits. For “Emilia Pérez,” this was mostly in the form of hate, with many targeting the film’s allegedly poor representation of Mexicans and transgender people, the two communities the film was based around. The disdain for “The Brutalist” was a little less intense and mostly towards its lengthy runtime, and to those who found that to be a problem, please grow up.

However, discourse soon shifted when it was revealed that both films took advantage of artificial intelligence to complete the films. In “Emilia Pérez,” some of the characters’ voices were changed or enhanced through AI. Similarly,  in “The Brutalist,” Brody’s voice was altered in order to improve his Hungarian accent. AI was also used to create numerous architectural drawings seen throughout the film, with the filmmaking team finding that method much easier and cheaper than paying someone else to do it for them.

Is this the end of the world? Not at all, and for the average eyes and ears, these changes are not noticeable at all. Sure, Adrien Brody sounds a little more Hungarian, but in most screenings, no one would be able to tell. (Realistically, not many people will be attending a theatrical screening of “The Brutalist.”). Regardless, not only allowing something like this, but actually awarding it in such a capacity is an incredibly slippery slope. In both instances, jobs were taken away from those who certainly could have used them, considering the current state of the film industry. In fact, AI played a large role in the 2023 strikes. Many writers and actors were afraid that they could be kicked to the curb in favor of the newest tech. This year’s controversy did not target writing or acting, however, it’s hard to imagine that this will not continue.

Once again, the reason both films ultimately decided to go this route was because it was easier and cheaper. As any filmmaker could tell you, or rather any person who ever lived, these are some pretty good reasons and two problems that will certainly be run into time and time again. If a cheaper and easier solution to a problem exists, then who in their right mind would go against that? It is hard to blame the filmmakers for making these sorts of decisions, but at what point should these decisions not even be an option? Maybe it starts with drawings in the background, but who’s to say that will not lead into entire sets, costumes and maybe scripts being devised by a computer?

Since these two films are the first to be open about it and at the same time so critically successful, they have become the poster children for the changing state of the industry. However, this is nothing new. Companies have been getting their feet wet with this technology for years now, and it seems that slowly but surely they will continue to experiment and attempt to utilize AI as best they can. Maybe at some point, someone will put their foot down and at least put some safeguards on what is happening, but if these Oscar nominations are any indication, that time is not right now.