After the Oscars ruled out AI actors from award contentions, the other major Hollywood awards – Golden Globes – have also said that performances by AI-generated actors will not be eligible. Organisers of the Golden Globe Awards clarified that new guidelines will not automatically disqualify performances that use artificial intelligence to enhance an actor, but will require that a live human be the main element.
Golden Globes on AI in acting
Originally produced and presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes were acquired by Dick Clark Productions in 2024. The awards kick off Hollywood’s awards season in January each year. On Thursday, the organisers said, “Submissions in which a performance is substantially generated or created by artificial intelligence are not eligible.”
But AI will not completely be banned from the prestigious awards, considered the precursor to Oscar glory. “The use of AI for technical or cosmetic enhancements (such as de-ageing, ageing, or visual modifications) may be permissible, provided the underlying performance remains that of the credited individual and AI does not replace or materially alter the performer’s work,” the new rules added.
Oscars rule AI actors out of contention
The new rules come days after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said it was cracking down on the use of AI. The body that doles out the Oscars said only real human performers — not their AI avatars — are eligible for the film world’s biggest prizes, and screenplays must have been penned by a person, rather than a chatbot.
Weeks before the Oscars and Golden Globes ruled on AI use in acting, the first major use of AI to ‘bring back’ an actor to life was seen in Hollywood. An AI version of the late Val Kilmer was unveiled in the trailer for the archaeological action film As Deep as the Grave, telling another character: “Don’t fear the dead and don’t fear me.” The project was created with the enthusiastic support of the actor’s family, who granted access to Kilmer’s video archives, which were used to recreate the actor at multiple stages of his life.
The AI debate in Hollywood
The use of artificial intelligence remains one of the most sensitive issues in the entertainment industry and was central to the 2023 strikes that shut down Hollywood, as actors and writers warned that unchecked technology threatened their livelihoods.