Brooks Barnes: Oscars OK the Use of A.I., With Caveats

A.I. and other digital tools “neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination,” the Oscar rules now state. The academy added, however, that the more a human played a role in a film’s creation, the better. (“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.”)

This seems utterly reasonable to me. It would be insane in my opinion to have a movie come out that’s adored by people, is widely considered to be a quality piece of art, and for it to be rejected by the Oscars because someone somewhere in the production used AI tools to make it a reality. New technology has always shaped how art is created and what art resonates with the culture as a whole. As I wrote just a few weeks ago, I strongly believe that humanity is central to the arts, and that it will continue to be so, just as it has with every technical breakthrough in the past.