Academy Says Only Human Performers and Human-Authored Screenplays Eligible for 99th Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has drawn a formal line on artificial intelligence in Oscar eligibility, updating its rules for the 99th Academy Awards to require that acting contenders be human performers and writing contenders come from human-authored screenplays.

The changes, published in the Academy’s rules package for the 99th Awards year in May 2026, apply to feature films with qualifying theatrical runs from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2026. In the acting rules, the Academy now says: “Only roles credited in the film’s legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent will be considered eligible.” In the writing rules, it says: “To be eligible in either Writing category, an explicit screenwriting credit must be present in the film’s legal billing and the screenplay must be human-authored.”

The move is not a blanket ban on AI in filmmaking or at the Oscars. The same rules package adds broader language on generative AI, saying such tools “neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination.” The Academy said it and each branch will judge achievement while considering “the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship” when deciding what to award.

The rules also spell out how eligibility questions would be handled. If concerns arise about the use of generative AI, the Academy says it “reserves the right to request more information about the nature of the use and human authorship.” Questions over acting eligibility can be resolved by the Actors Branch Executive Committee. For writing, the Writers Branch Executive Committee reviews legal billing for eligible titles and resolves those questions.

That distinction matters because the Oscars remain one of the film industry’s most influential standard-setters, and the new language puts the Academy explicitly on record about human performance and human authorship at a time when AI tools are spreading across entertainment production. The policy also arrives after the industry’s major 2023 labor battles, when SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors, and the Writers Guild of America both pressed for AI-related protections, including rules around digital replicas, consent and the status of AI-generated writing.

The Academy’s language is careful and narrow. It does not say AI-generated or AI-assisted work is barred from all Oscar categories. Instead, the explicit human-only requirements in this rules package apply to credited acting performances and credited screenwriting, while AI and other digital tools remain permissible more broadly, subject to Academy review.

According to The Associated Press, Academy CEO Bill Kramer described the changes as part of the organization’s annual rules updates. Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor framed the policy around authorship and creative control. “Humans have to be at the center of the creative process,” she said. “For the academy, we are always going to put human authorship at the center of our awards eligibility process.”