Artificial intelligence moves into the professional sphere of the film industry as two of the 2025 Oscars' highest nominations incorporated AI into its production. The music award scene also sees AI incorporated with 2024’s Grammy Nominations.
The use of AI brings to question the deals the Writers Guild of America and the SAG-AFTRA made regarding AI use. SAG-AFTRA took part in a three-month-long strike in 2023 to ensure protection from AI eliminating jobs in the film industry.
“The Brutalist,” a 2024 film starring Adrian Brody, used AI in its development, with voice-altering technology and creating background buildings in one of the movie’s scenes.
Tommy Triplett, a freshman VR game development major and avid film watcher, said the movie was impressive and its use of AI went unnoticed.
However, the type of AI “The Brutalist” used is Respeecher, a speech reconfiguration software. This specific use of AI was not recognized by the SAG-AFTRA agreement, which primarily focused on replicating likenesses and creating scripts.
“It's not (AI, it’s) just autotune,” Triplett said. “It's the same thing every pop artist does for their creation.”
While some forms may be considered acceptable, opinions regarding AI can be low regarding future job possibilities. Triplett said AI could pose a threat to his own field of game development.
“My job could be taken over with AI … internships could be taken over with AI, which is not something I want,” Triplett said.
The judgment of the Oscars has been called into question this year, mostly regarding “Emilia Pérez” being the most nominated film at the ceremony with 13 nominations.
The New Yorker, the Atlantic, Variety and Forbes all released articles critiquing the Oscars’ large sum of left-out movies deserving of awards.
In an article from Forbes writer Paul Tassi, he critiques the decision to nominate “Emilia Pérez” due to its Mexican representation, character development and musical components.
“I did not want to judge it until I had seen it myself, and now after doing so no, the endless string of nominations do not make sense,” Tassi wrote. “‘Emilia Pérez’ is not a good movie.”
Similarly to “The Brutalist,” “Emilia Pérez” used Respeecher to assist lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón in reaching the required notes for the musical pieces.
Although the usage of AI in 2025’s Oscar nominations is minimal, AI is a growing field that has continued to increase in abilities, accessibility and use across online platforms.
Triplett said he worries the use of AI will continue until it ruins the creativity of movies intended to be artistic.
“Why would (directors) do that to (their) vision?” Triplett said. “This is anti-art, almost to a point.”
David Jansco, editor for “The Brutalist,” said he believes AI should not be as controversial as it is in the film industry in an interview with RedShark News.
“There’s nothing in the film using AI that hasn't been done before,” Jansco said. “It just makes the process a lot faster.”
It’s not only the film industry that has seen a surge of AI incorporated into the field.
“Now and Then,” the Beatles’ final song, was released in November 2023. The song was created in 1975 and was revitalized through AI as it isolated John Lennon’s original vocals to create the track. The song was nominated for two Grammys this year: Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance.
2025 has seen multiple award ceremonies nominating works created with the assistance of AI. Some fans believe the nominations question whether the trend will continue and expand to things beyond voice-altering.
“If it's something smaller … then it's whatever,” Triplett said. “But if it's something like it's writing a scene, or it's creating scenes, then (it’s) definitely (disgusting).”