The Oscars announced new rules: only humans can win acting awards, and AI-involved scripts are not allowed to participate in the competition

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the rules for the 99th Academy Awards, clarifying that only human actors can participate in acting awards, and screenplay awards must also be "human creations." If the film uses generative AI, the Academy has the right to request more creative information.

Core conclusion

On May 1, 2026, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially released the entry rules for the 99th Academy Awards (to be held in 2027). The most eye-catching change is that only "human beings" can win acting awards, and screenplay awards must also be "human creations"**. This is the first time in the history of the Oscars that there have been clear restrictions on the participation of generative AI in film production, marking that Hollywood has officially entered the stage of "delimiting boundaries" from "waiting and watching AI".

Key Points

Event Time: May 1, 2026 (99th Oscar Rules Released)
Applicable objects: All films participating in the 99th Oscars (broadcast in 2027)
Core changes: Performance awards are limited to humans, script awards must be "human-authored", and AI use will be included in the review
Industry Impact: The use of AI filmmaking tools will face stricter compliance thresholds

Background and trigger events

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the complete selection rules document for the 99th Academy Awards on May 1, 2026. In this 51-page PDF, the most concerning ones are the restrictions on the use of generative AI.

According to the new rules, only work that is clearly marked as human performance in the film's legal signature and completed with the person's informed consent is eligible to participate in the acting awards. This means that AI-generated digital actors - such as the previously discussed "AI actress" Tilly Norwood - will be completely excluded from Oscar acting awards.

The screenplay award also faces similar restrictions: the screenplay must be "human-authored" (human creation). If the academy has questions about the use of AI in a film, it has the right to ask the producer to provide "more information about the nature of AI use and the extent of human creativity."

This decision comes on the heels of the “AI actor agency” controversy reported by the Hollywood Reporter and other media. In October 2025, the AI production company Particle6 and its subsidiary Xicoia announced that its AI digital human Tilly Norwood would enter the entertainment industry, claiming that a brokerage company had contacted and negotiated.

Key Impact (by Dimension)

Dimensions	Change	What it means for content creators	Recommended actions
Creation qualifications	Performance awards are limited to humans, and scripts must be signed by humans	AI-assisted creation is acceptable, but purely AI-generated content is not eligible	Human creative trajectory records are retained in the content production process
Review process	The college may require detailed information on AI usage	Establish documentation habits for the creative process	Save human editing/modification records after each AI-assisted creation
Industry trends	Hollywood officially delineates the boundaries of AI use	In the field of Affiliate/content entrepreneurship, AI-generated content faces trust challenges	Find a balance between AI efficiency and human originality
Compliance costs	Creating using AI tools requires additional proof of human participation	Long-term risks to the content farm/batch AI generation model	Establishing a standard operating process for "AI-assisted + human editing"

The deep logic of Oscar’s new AI rules

From the "AI actor" controversy to the implementation of rules

In 2025, the "debut" of the AI-generated digital human Tilly Norwood caused an uproar in Hollywood. The AI production company claimed that it "hopes Tilly will become the next Scarlett Johansson," but the actual performance is far from the level of a professional actor. The industry is worried that if there are no restrictions on AI digital actors, awards such as the Oscars, which represent the highest honor in the industry, will face doubts about their "gold content."

The implementation of the new regulations also reflects broader industry trends: In an era of proliferation of AI-generated content, audience and industry demand for certification of "human creations" is rising. This is not only a problem in Hollywood, but also a trust challenge faced by content entrepreneurs on any platform.

Practical impact on AI content entrepreneurs

Although this news is about the Oscars, the logic in it has implications for all AI content practitioners:

AI-assisted vs. AI-generated: Oscar clearly distinguished between “assisted” and “replaced”. AI-assisted creation (using AI for polishing, translation, and typesetting) is acceptable; completely replacing human creation is not acceptable.
Creation Traceability: The college has the right to request details of AI usage. Similarly, Google’s E-E-A-T standards increasingly focus on proof of “human creation” of content.
Scarcity Premium: When AI-generated content becomes infinitely cheaper, "original content" certified by humans will become even more scarce.

Extended thinking: Enlightenment on AI automated workflow

For practitioners who use AI Agent tools for content production, Oscar's new rules send a clear signal: Don't think of AI as a "fully automated replacement", but as an "efficiency amplifier".

In practice, this means:

When using AI tools such as Claude Code and ChatGPT to assist writing, traces of human editing and structural adjustments are retained
Add "human review nodes" to the content automation system instead of completely unmanned publishing
Add personal experience judgment and practical data to SEO and GEO content instead of pure AI splicing

Related extended information

Tool entry

AI tools mentioned in the text: Claude Code, ChatGPT, OpenAI, DeepSeek

Internal link guidance

Want to learn AI automated content production methods? See: Claude Code automated writing practice: build an AI content production pipeline in 30 minutes
Real case: 18-Year-Old Built a $5,000/mo SaaS With AI Agents — Zero Hand-Written Code