“The Brutalist” AI drama Photo Credits: AI: Use of Wikimedia Commons The Brutalist Movie Poster

AI’s evergrowing power and influence has shifted the meaning of artistic creation. Recently, the Oscar-nominated film The Brutalist editor revealed he used AI to enhance the actors’ Hungarian accents for the Hungarian dubbed version of the film. This begs the question of how AI use in movies should be addressed. 

Other Oscar contenders including Emilia Perez, A Complete Unknown, and Dune: Part 2 were also revealed to use varying amounts of AI in their production. However, The Brutalist has received the most backlash and debate so far. 

This would be a different argument if AI had replaced the actual performance of an actor. In an interview with Vanity Fair, The Brutalist’s lead actor Adrian Brody spoke out about the controversy. He reiterated the idea that his work was completely his own and there was no technology implemented that takes work from people. “It’s quite a typical postproduction process. I think we all know the truth” Brody said in the Vanity Fair piece. 

 The use of AI tools in Oscar-level films has angered some individuals due to what some might see as a lack of authenticity. Despite this, no matter one’s opinion on AI in art, the truth is that AI will only become more relevant in movies as time goes on.​​ There are some who wish to refuse viewing films with AI use; if those individuals continue with this trend they will have difficulty discovering new movies to watch in the future. We must accept AI as becoming part of reality whether this is for the worse or better. 

Most recently it was revealed that the Academy Awards are considering introducing a mandatory AI disclosure form beginning in the 2026 Oscar season. Currently, this is a voluntary form. The act of mandating a disclosure form could push for transparency in the world of film.

In the end, there is an enormous difference in replacing human jobs with artificial intelligence as opposed to its use as a tool. So as AI becomes greatly intertwined with the art creation, when judging a piece of work on how it used AI should be the discussion point, whether a project used AI at all should not.