The organization behind the Academy Awards is for the first time addressing the use of artificial intelligence in performances and scripts for the 2027 Academy Awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday issued updates across several categories, stressing the importance of human authorship while not banning artificial intelligence.The new rules also include significant changes to the much-criticized international film category, expanding eligibility to include films that have won the highest qualifying awards from prestigious film festivals such as Cannes, Venice and Toronto.“As we do every year, we’ve made a lot of smart, progressive changes, we think,” Bill Kramer, the chief executive of the film academy, told The Associated Press. “It is clear that as the Academy becomes more global, we need to think about how we invite global films into the Oscars conversation.”
Artificial Intelligence and the Oscars
As part of its annual review of Academy Award eligibility rules, the Academy is addressing one of the biggest concerns of the global filmmaking community: generative artificial intelligence.The new rules state that “the tools neither help nor hurt the chances of achieving a nomination,” and that the Academy and each branch “will judge the achievement, taking into account the extent to which the human being is at the heart of the creative composition when choosing which film to award.”
They also reserve the right to request further information from the filmmaking team about the nature of the use of AI and “human authoring”.
““Humans must be at the heart of the creative process,” Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor said. “As AI continues to evolve, our conversations about AI will go hand in hand with that. But for the Academy, we will always put human authorship at the center of our awards eligibility process.”When it comes to eligibility for performances, only roles that are “clearly performed by humans with their consent” will be considered. The organization declined to comment on whether Val Kilmer’s upcoming AI performance would be eligible because the filmmakers have not yet submitted it for consideration.The likeness is not representative, but it may also depend on how Kilmer is credited in the movie: like Val Kilmer or something else? One could also take Andy Serkis as Gollum as an example of man’s collaboration with technology in the final performance.“We will review that on a case-by-case basis,” Kramer said. “We, like everyone in our industry and the world, will evaluate this every year.”There is less ambiguity in scenario categories, as the rules state that “scenarios must be human-authored to be eligible.”The film academy has often had to revise its standards to match today’s technological advances, whether that be sound, color, or computer-generated imagery (CGI).
Changes to international film eligibility
As its membership has become more international, calls have increased for reform of the international film category, which had been consistently criticized as unfair, outdated, and subject to political interference. This has resulted in independent and oppositional filmmakers often not being seen to represent the country they are from.For example, Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year, and was presented not as Iran’s official entry at the 98th Academy Awards, but rather to France.Under the new rules, “It Was Just an Accident” can be considered eligible because it won the Grand Prix at Cannes, not because a country chose to submit it. In addition to the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the Golden Lion at Venice, and the Podium Prize at Toronto, other festivals with eligible awards will also include the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Best Film Award at the Busan International Film Festival, and the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema at the Sundance Film Festival.All international films will be approved as a nominee, not the country or region, and the award will be accepted by the filmmaker. The director’s name will also be listed on the Oscar plaque “after the film title and country, if possible.”“This really reflects our desire to honor the film’s creative team. This is how we treat other categories,” Kramer said. “And the more global we become, the more global the filmmaking community becomes.
“I think it’s really about focusing on the filmmakers and not focusing on the country.”
Actors can now be nominated for more than one award in one category
The acting branch catches up with the rest of the Academy in allowing an actor to nominate more than one performance in one category. For example, if Michael B. Jordan, this year’s Best Actor winner, has two exceptional leading performances in two different films in 2026, he will likely receive two Best Actor nominations.This is standard practice in other categories. In 2001, at the 73rd Academy Awards, Steven Soderbergh was nominated for Best Director for “Traffic” and “Erin Brockovich,” and won for the former.
And about those original songs in the end credits
The organization also clarified the eligibility of original songs used during the film’s end credits. For songs in which the first musical cue over the end credits plays, that song must go beyond at least the last 15 seconds of the movie before the credits start in order to be considered eligible. This year’s Original Song of the Year winner, “Golden,” was a staple of “KPop Demon Hunters” and was used multiple times throughout the film.“We never stop looking for ways to improve our eligibility process,” Taylor said.
