Filmmakers who submit their work for the Academy Awards could be made to disclose if they used artificial intelligence as part of the creative process.
Variety reports the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is considering changing the eligibility rules for submissions to Hollywood’s biggest night.
The report states AMPAS’ Governors and Branch executive committees are considering whether to make it mandatory for filmmakers to disclose using AI. It adds that the Academy’s SciTech Council is also working on “recommended language.”
Controversy has surrounded some of this year’s Oscar nominees after it was revealed Best Picture frontrunner The Brutalist used AI company Respeecher to make the film’s lead characters sound more authentic when they speak Hungarian in the film.
AI was also used in Netflix’s Emilia Perez, another Best Picture nominee, to increase the range of Karla Sofía Gascón’s vocal register.
Dune: Part 2, also nominated in the BP category, trained a machine learning model on shots from the first film, so the algorithm could automatically recognise and colour the Fremen characters’ eyes blue.
Variety’s report quotes an unnamed source as stating that it’s important for filmmakers to reveal how they used AI technology to create what’s seen on screen. “Awards decisions should be made knowing what the human artist did to achieve the results,” the person said. “And using new tools in innovative ways that pave the path forward for everyone else is a big contribution.”
