Artificial Intelligence—more casually known as AI—has been a longstanding point of contention amongst those involved in the film industry. Many cite worries that AI will remove job opportunities for actors and filmmaking crew alike.
The SAG-AFTRA strike of summer 2023, during which over 150,000 industry actors revolted against unfair working conditions, highlighted the fear and doubtfulness of the guardrails against AI use for entertainment making in the industry.
However, AI is now the subject of a new controversy this awards season. Two Academy Award-nominated films, “Emilia Pérez” and “The Brutalist,” were revealed to have used voice-changing AI to enhance the performances of the actors involved.
As for The Brutalist, the film’s editor Dávid Jancsó addressed his collaboration with Respeecher, a Ukrainian software company known for its ability to alter human voices.
The film features many characters speaking Hungarian, including the leading actor Adrien Brody and actress Felicity Jones. Janscó claims he fed his voice to the software, as he is a native Hungarian speaker. The technology was then used to perfect the Hungarian accents of the performers, ensuring that the Hungarian spoken in the film would be flawless.
Many critics and moviegoers alike found this type of performance-altering technology to be controversial, as both actors are nominated for acting categories at the Oscars.
A viral X user says: “My take on The Brutalist AI thing is it’s a slippery slope to award Adrien Brody knowing his accent was edited with AI. IMO altering a performance with AI like that should automatically disqualify someone from these award shows.”
Although “The Brutalist” has been the center of much recent debate, it is not the only Best Picture Nominee to use AI to improve acting performance.
“Emilia Perez” is the most celebrated film this awards season with a whopping thirteen nominations from the Academy. It is a unique and conceptual film with many musical numbers, many sung by the titular character played by Karla Sofia Gascón.
While Gascón has made history as the first openly transgender woman nominated for an acting Oscar, it was revealed that her performance also happened to be altered using Respeecher. She had a more limited vocal range than was needed of the character, so her voice was blended with a French pop star.
AI has certainly integrated itself into society, yet it has faced many critiques, specifically with the impact it has on the environment. Besides its excessive use of electricity, there is a large amount of water needed to train and tune generative AI, which can drain local ecosystems and lessen water supplies.
AI is altogether a dangerous societal development. Students nowadays have the ability to have AI write entire essays, or take tests for them. People do not need to think for themselves anymore, they have resources to tell them what to think. AI also has the ability to make art, diminishing human creativity.
AI can seem appealing for film crews that do not have an expansive budget to create everything they want to. But is it really creating art if you do not create anything at all?
Now, this is an extreme. The use of AI in films like “Emilia Perez” and “The Brutalist” are minimal, and the performances in the films are mostly the work of the actors. But this could open the door to a bigger presence of AI in the film industry. Think about it: why build an entire set for a shot when you can just type in a generator what you want to be shown on screen? Why spend the money when you can have any shot in the palm of your hands?
The rise of AI, in my opinion, is frightening. It can pose a real threat to artists and performers who have given their everything to the craft. Yet I cannot say that I do not get why directors would want to use it, specifically low budget films.
Although Adrien Brody received the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role at the 2025 Oscars, the Motion Picture Academy who oversees the Oscars are discussing requiring the use of AI in film to be disclosed.
Up until now, directors were not required to disclose if and where AI was used in their films, but if the Academy approves it, this will go into effect at the 2026 Oscars. Having AI usage disclosed may discourage certain Academy members from nominating AI assisted films.
Artificial Intelligence is still in the process of being completely integrated into society. Though it is clear it will not be going anywhere, there may be more regulations placed on it, as we further see what it can do, and how it is used.