Oscars Greenlights AI Films Amidst Industry Controversy

Following the announcement on April 21, Oscar greenlighted the eligibility of AI films to be nominated for the Oscar Awards and, fortuitously, to win.

Following the official announcement on Monday, April 21, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars) greenlighted the eligibility of AI-generated films to be nominated for the Oscar Awards and, fortuitously, to win. The recent development is expected to officially take off at the 98th Oscar Ceremony on March 15, 2026, hosted by Conan O'Brien—although the date is subject to change.

This newly released rule undoubtedly shifted the tide in Hollywood and, progressively, in other cinematic industries, especially with regard to the filmmaking industry's reception of artificial intelligence tools in filmmaking. Long before now, several controversies and stereotypes against generative AI and their outputs have peaked. Most complaints are heavily based on the arguments that AI lacks originality and that the technology's outputs are from the use of copyrighted materials, which are used to train its models—without license from the owners. Thus, this results in a lack of monetary compensation to the authors.

Creatives, especially writers, have brought their concerns to the limelight through lawsuits against giant artificial intelligence companies like Meta and OpenAI—Meta v. Sarah Silverman is a notable example. In the latter suit, Meta claimed the usage was justified under the doctrine of fair use. It argued that the use was transformative as it allowed Llama (Meta AI) to "serve as a personal tutor on nearly any subject, assist with creative ideation, and help users to generate business reports, translate conversations, analyze data, write code, and compose poems or letters to friends."

Similarly, a far more critical, sore, and sordid reception and use of generative artificial intelligence for creative works—especially art and cinematography works—happened a few weeks ago following the Ghibli trend on X. The artist, Hayao Miyazaki, being popularly known as a critic against the use of AI, even describing it as an insult to life itself, had his art styles copied and adapted by OpenAI's ChatGPT. While most consider it a commendable progress in the technology's ability to replicate things with precise details, others consider it ludicrous—a mockery of originality and creativity, especially to the artists.

In lieu of these, the Academy's announcement became more interesting as it supposedly denounced the stereotypes towards GAI works—or hinted that at least. In its announcement, the Academy states:

"In the rules for film eligibility, the following language regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been introduced, as recommended by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council:

With regard to Generative Artificial Intelligence and other digital tools used in the making of the film, the tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination. 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."

Prior to the announcement, the Academy had considered the disclosure of the use of AI tools in the films mandatory but later decided not to have it stretched to that length.

A critical interpretation shows the Academy still regarded the involvement of humans in such AI works as pivotal and a significant requirement for such nominations. However, this new development appears to be more of a reception of the status quo established by the United States Copyright Office. The Office ruled that AI works can be copyrighted depending on the amount of human involvement in the authorship.

Even more noteworthy is the use of AI tools for the enhancement of blockbuster movies such as "The Brutalist"—to enhance Hungarian accents—as well as "Pérez” and “Dune: Part Two". Interestingly, the lead actor for the Brutalist, Adrien Brody, later won the Oscar for best actor, following debates that the use of AI was unethical prior to the Oscar ceremony in February.

Despite the critics, some influential filmmakers have started embracing the prominent technology. For instance, James Cameron is now a member of the board of Stability A.I. company.

In addition, the Academy also added a new rule that requires Academy members to watch all nominated films in each category to be eligible to vote in the final round for the Oscars. All designated nominees will also be included on the final ballot. However, there were no stipulations or criteria to identify if the members watched the nominated movies or not, thereby making the rule rather stunted.

The nominations for the next Oscars ceremony will be announced on January 22, 2026.

—Adedeji Adebusuyi