The Oscars just banned AI from winning acting and writing awards (opens in new tab)

(gizmodo.com)

50 pointsZeidJ6d ago22 comments

22 comments

Given the latest court ruling in March that AI works can't be copyrighted, this makes a lot of sense. The movie itself can't be copyrighted if it uses AI (although there is still some unresolved issues around how much AI).

chungusamongus6d ago

Hah, no. Just because AI was employed in the production to some extent doesn't mean it can't be copyrighted. It is not so black and white. You are not describing the situation accurately.

jedberg6d ago

I literally said: "although there is still some unresolved issues around how much AI"

Which is really the crux of the issue.

SilverElfin6d ago

I would expect that ruling to be overturned at some point. AI is going to be how people work. And saying it can the copyrighted is going to look increasingly absurd, like saying anything produced with Adobe tools can’t be copyrighted.

jedberg6d ago

I actually agree with you. Between lobbying from the AI companies, artists when they realize it's a tool they can use to enhance their own work, and probably the movie makers themselves when the realize how much their own people want to use it, it will either be overturned or the laws will be much clearer.

Papazsazsa6d ago

Good. The intangibles of art are undeniable.

- emotional connection

- aesthetics

- zeitgeist

- lived experience

- artist journey

You're free to fall in love with your sexbot, but it's still just jerking off.

_alternator_6d ago

And what is falling in love with an actor? Not jerking off?

Papazsazsa6d ago

It's certainly a lot less messy!

_alternator_6d ago

My point is that falling in love with an actor is (usually) falling in love with an idea or image, not an actual person, and in that way it's not that much different than jacking off.

ekjhgkejhgk6d ago

Remember when they tried to ban computers from winning best special effects? Tron, famously.

0x3f6d ago

Obviously just performative signalling that doesn't really do much. You can't definitively tell if AI was used, so the rule can never realistically be enforced.

Then again, the Oscars are surely almost entirely vibes based anyway. So it's hardly some internally consistent system of merit in the first place.

happytoexplain6d ago

I wish we could stop the slide of the term "performative" into meaninglessness.

Just because something is hard or even impossible to enforce, doesn't mean you don't state that it is not allowed and that there are consequences for being caught. That's a common fallacy that overly engineering-minded people fall into.

We're humans. We care about things.

frollogaston6d ago

It prevents anyone from blatantly using AI. If they want to use it anyway and risk getting found out, sure. That's still a big difference.

userbinator6d ago

The younger generation also increasingly pays less attention to traditional mainstream entertainment and media, as now they can create more of it with AI.

Edit: funny to see the anti-AI crowd showing up again, how predictable... you can downvote but you can't stop the truth! Legacy entertainment is dying, and will soon become irrelevant.

NicuCalcea6d ago

You can't definitively tell if athletes are doping, or students are cheating, it should then be allowed.

jedimastert6d ago

I would be surprised if it weren't already de facto banned, like how motion capture performances are essentially banned from Best Actor/Actress awards

_aavaa_6d ago

Why should motion capture be banned from those awards?

jedimastert6d ago

I didn't say should, I said are.

The rationale (which, again, I'm not arguing for or against) is that mocap performances are not strictly speaking totally the actors, because mocap has to be cleaned and can be (and very often is) edited and tweaked after the fact by animators. Not to mention there are often required liberties taken because a model cannot line up one to one with an actor anatomically.

In a sense, mocap performances are done by a team of animators where one animator puppeted a model in real time.

chuckadams6d ago

I don't know, but Andy Serkis was robbed of a Best Supporting Actor nomination because Gollum was regarded as "just a CG Character".

guitarlimeo6d ago

Half of Andy Serkis' job portraying Gollum was done by animators, even though Serkis provided the basic facial expressions.

I would've given him the best voice acting award though.

1 more reply

bhickey6d ago

There was a comparable controversy with The Exorcist because Linda Blair was dubbed.

spankibalt6d ago

Obvious decision for any institution with at least a modicum of artistic self-respect.

jmp10626d ago

agreed, as AI is more widely adopted in cinematography i assume they will start adding categories specifically for it... hate the idea of them ever competing directly against actual humans performing

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

22 comments

jedberg6d ago

chungusamongus6d ago

Hah, no. Just because AI was employed in the production to some extent doesn't mean it can't be copyrighted. It is not so black and white. You are not describing the situation accurately.

jedberg6d ago

I literally said: "although there is still some unresolved issues around how much AI"

Which is really the crux of the issue.

SilverElfin6d ago

jedberg6d ago

Papazsazsa6d ago

Good. The intangibles of art are undeniable.

- emotional connection

- aesthetics

- zeitgeist

- lived experience

- artist journey

You're free to fall in love with your sexbot, but it's still just jerking off.

_alternator_6d ago

And what is falling in love with an actor? Not jerking off?

Papazsazsa6d ago

It's certainly a lot less messy!

_alternator_6d ago

My point is that falling in love with an actor is (usually) falling in love with an idea or image, not an actual person, and in that way it's not that much different than jacking off.

ekjhgkejhgk6d ago

Remember when they tried to ban computers from winning best special effects? Tron, famously.

0x3f6d ago

Obviously just performative signalling that doesn't really do much. You can't definitively tell if AI was used, so the rule can never realistically be enforced.

Then again, the Oscars are surely almost entirely vibes based anyway. So it's hardly some internally consistent system of merit in the first place.

happytoexplain6d ago

I wish we could stop the slide of the term "performative" into meaninglessness.

We're humans. We care about things.

frollogaston6d ago

It prevents anyone from blatantly using AI. If they want to use it anyway and risk getting found out, sure. That's still a big difference.

userbinator6d ago

The younger generation also increasingly pays less attention to traditional mainstream entertainment and media, as now they can create more of it with AI.

Edit: funny to see the anti-AI crowd showing up again, how predictable... you can downvote but you can't stop the truth! Legacy entertainment is dying, and will soon become irrelevant.

NicuCalcea6d ago

You can't definitively tell if athletes are doping, or students are cheating, it should then be allowed.

jedimastert6d ago

I would be surprised if it weren't already de facto banned, like how motion capture performances are essentially banned from Best Actor/Actress awards

_aavaa_6d ago

Why should motion capture be banned from those awards?

jedimastert6d ago

I didn't say should, I said are.

In a sense, mocap performances are done by a team of animators where one animator puppeted a model in real time.

chuckadams6d ago

I don't know, but Andy Serkis was robbed of a Best Supporting Actor nomination because Gollum was regarded as "just a CG Character".

guitarlimeo6d ago

Half of Andy Serkis' job portraying Gollum was done by animators, even though Serkis provided the basic facial expressions.

I would've given him the best voice acting award though.

1 more reply

bhickey6d ago

There was a comparable controversy with The Exorcist because Linda Blair was dubbed.

spankibalt6d ago

Obvious decision for any institution with at least a modicum of artistic self-respect.

jmp10626d ago

agreed, as AI is more widely adopted in cinematography i assume they will start adding categories specifically for it... hate the idea of them ever competing directly against actual humans performing

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse