AI-generated actors and scripts are now ineligible for Oscars

TechCrunch / 5/3/2026

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Key Points

  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has updated Oscar rules to restrict eligibility for both performances and screenplays involving generative AI.
  • Only performances credited in a film’s legal billing and “demonstrably performed by humans with their consent” will qualify, and screenplays must be “human-authored.”
  • The Academy says it can request additional information regarding a film’s AI usage and “human authorship” to enforce the new requirements.
  • The move follows ongoing controversy around AI-generated actors, scripts, and video models, including debates sparked by the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes and other recent AI-related media disputes.
  • Related actions are also occurring outside Hollywood, with at least one publisher pulling an AI-questioned novel and writers’ groups arguing that AI use should disqualify works from awards.

The organization behind the Academy Awards released new Oscar rules on Friday, including several that address the use of generative artificial intelligence.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said that only performances “credited in the film’s legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent” will be eligible for Academy Awards. Similarly, the academy said that screenplays must be “human-authored” to be eligible.

The academy also said it has the right to request more information about a film’s AI usage and “human authorship.”

These rule changes come as an independent film is in the works with an AI-generated version of Val Kilmer, as AI “actress” Tilly Norwood keeps making headlines, and as new video models are causing at least a few filmmakers to make sweeping declarations of despair. AI was also one of the main sticking points in the actors’ and writers’ strikes back in 2023.

Outside Hollywood, at least one novel has been pulled by its publisher due to the apparent use of AI, and other writers’ groups are declaring that AI usage makes work ineligible for awards.