Oscars Ban AI-Generated Acting and Writing From Award Eligibility

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will only give Oscars for acting and writing to humans, a BBC report said.

On Friday, May 1, the body behind Hollywood’s biggest film awards announced new rules for which movies and documentaries can enter the Oscars as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) increases.

According to the updated guidelines, performances must be “clearly done by humans” and scripts “must be created by a person” to qualify for a nomination. The Academy called the update a “major” change to its rules.

This marks the first time the Academy has formally said that Oscars for acting and writing can only go to people.

Filmmakers have turned to AI tools more often in recent months to copy or replace human work. The BBC reported that actor Val Kilmer, who died in 2025, will be digitally recreated with AI to star in a new film. Last year, London-based actor and comedian Eline van der Velden revealed she built a fully AI-generated actor she hopes will “become a global superstar.”

Two years ago, during the Hollywood writers’ strike, a key concern was that studios might use AI to draft scripts.

At the same time, every AI tool runs on large language models (LLMs). These models learn from text, photos, and videos made by people over decades to produce new content.

As a result, Hollywood studios, actors, and writers have taken several AI firms to court, accusing them of using their work without approval.

Still, the Academy has not placed a full ban on AI in movies. It stated that using AI tools in other areas of filmmaking will “neither help nor hurt” a film’s chance of being nominated.

“The Academy and each branch will assess the work by considering how much a human drove the creative decisions when deciding which film to honor,” the group said.

The Academy also noted that if doubts come up about the use of generative AI, it can request more information on what the AI produced and what the human team did.