AI actors, writing not eligible for Oscars, says Academy

MANILA, Philippines — Actors created with artificial intelligence will not be eligible for an Oscar, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Friday as it launched a crackdown on the use of AI.

New rules include a requirement that only real, live human performers – not their AI avatars – are eligible for the film world’s biggest prizes, and screenplays must have been penned by a person, rather than a chatbot.

“In the Acting category, only roles credited in the film’s legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent will be considered eligible,” the Academy said.

“In the Writing categories, the rules codify that screenplays must be human-authored to be eligible.”

The ruling comes days after an AI version of the late Val Kilmer was unveiled to an audience of cinema owners, a year after the “Top Gun” star’s death.

A youthful, digital version of Kilmer appeared in the trailer for archeological action pic “As Deep as the Grave,” telling another character: “Don’t fear the dead and don’t fear me.”

The project was created with the enthusiastic support of the actor’s family, who granted access to Kilmer’s video archives, which were used to recreate the actor at multiple stages of his life.

The use of artificial intelligence remains one of the most sensitive issues in the entertainment industry and was central to the 2023 strikes that shut down Hollywood, as actors and writers warned that unchecked technology threatened their livelihoods.

Other updates to the Academy’s rules include a change in the way that films can be nominated for best international feature.

Until this year, only a film selected by an official national grouping could be entered – a problem for any critical movie made in an authoritarian state.

For example, Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident” was nominated earlier this year as a submission from France.

Under the new rules, a non-English language film also can be submitted in the category if it wins a qualifying award at a major international film festival, including Cannes, Berlin, Busan, Venice or Toronto.

In that same category, the film will be deemed the nominee and not the country, and its director will be “listed on the statuette plaque after the film title” along with the country if applicable, the Academy announced.