Academy Awards 2025: Major Changes to Acting Categories

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has reinforced its commitment to human creativity by establishing strict boundaries regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence in the Oscars. According to reporting from Courrier international, the Academy has determined that AI-generated scripts and synthetic actors do not meet the eligibility requirements for the prestigious awards.

The ruling focuses on the fundamental requirement of human authorship and performance, ensuring that the awards continue to recognize the skill and effort of living artists. This stance comes amid an industry-wide debate over the role of AI in cinema, following the labor disputes and subsequent contracts established by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA.

Human Authorship in Screenwriting

In the screenwriting categories, the Academy has clarified that a script must be the product of human creativity to be eligible for nomination. While the use of AI as a tool for brainstorming or organization may be permissible in some capacities, the core narrative and dialogue must be written by humans.

This policy aligns with the current WGA agreements, which specify that AI cannot be credited as a writer. The Academy’s position ensures that the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay or Best Adapted Screenplay remains a recognition of human intellectual property and artistic vision, rather than a result of algorithmic generation.

Restrictions on Synthetic Performances

The Academy has also implemented significant changes regarding the acting categories to address the rise of digital humans and AI-driven performances. The governing body has ruled that an acting nomination requires a performance rooted in human action and emotion.

A primary point of contention has been the digital resurrection of deceased performers. The Academy has indicated that synthetic performances created using the likeness of actors who have passed away—including those who died as recently as 2025—do not qualify for competitive acting awards. These digital recreations, regardless of their technical sophistication, are viewed as visual effects rather than acting performances.

By excluding these synthetic roles, the Academy aims to prevent a scenario where a technical team is effectively nominated for an acting award based on the posthumous likeness of a performer who did not physically provide the performance for the specific role.

Industry Context and Labor Protections

These decisions reflect the broader tensions that led to the historic strikes of 2023. Both writers and actors fought for protections against the unauthorized use of their likenesses and the replacement of human labor with generative AI. The Academy’s rules serve as a formal institutionalization of those protections within the awards circuit.

Industry analysts suggest that these rules are necessary to maintain the integrity of the Oscars. If synthetic performances were allowed, the criteria for best acting would shift from a measurement of emotional truth and physical presence to a measurement of software engineering and data processing.

The Academy’s Board of Governors continues to monitor the evolution of AI technology. While the current rules draw a hard line at authorship and performance, the organization is expected to refine its guidelines as the technology becomes more integrated into the production pipeline, particularly in the areas of visual effects and post-production.