Oscars Bans AI Actors and Writing from Awards Eligibility
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) issued a landmark update to its awards eligibility rules on Friday, declaring that only acting performed by humans and writing authored by humans can be considered for Oscar nominations.
The Academy described the change as “substantive” — the first time in its history that it has explicitly required human performance and authorship for award consideration.
Key Requirements
Under the updated eligibility criteria:
- Acting awards: Only granted for performances “demonstrably performed by humans”
- Writing awards: Scripts “must be human-authored”
The Academy stated: “The Academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award. If questions arise regarding the aforementioned use of generative artificial intelligence, the Academy reserves the right to request more information about the nature of the use and human authorship.”
Context and Motivation
The rule change comes amid rapid advances in AI technology within the film industry.
Late actor Val Kilmer (who died in 2025) is being recreated using AI technology for a lead role in an upcoming film. Last year, London-based actor and comedian Eline van der Velden claimed she had created “an entirely fake AI actor” in an attempt to make it “a global superstar.”
Two years ago, when the Hollywood writers’ union went on strike, one of the key issues was film and TV studios using AI to write scripts.
AI Tools in Other Areas Not Restricted
Notably, the Academy did not impose a blanket ban on AI use in filmmaking. For areas beyond acting and writing, the Academy clarified:
“AI tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination.”
This means AI use in visual effects, sound, editing, and other production areas remains permitted. The Academy will evaluate each work “taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship.”
Industry Background
The foundation of all AI tools is large language models (LLMs), which are trained on text, images, and video created by humans over decades. Hollywood studios, actors, and authors are currently pursuing copyright infringement lawsuits against several AI companies.
Meanwhile, AI video generation tools have faced their own challenges — OpenAI recently shut down its Sora video-making app and cancelled a $1 billion deal with Disney.
This new rule is seen as a significant step by Hollywood to protect human creative workers in the AI era, setting a precedent for the global film industry.
Source: BBC News, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences