Controversy surrounding the critically acclaimed, Oscar winning film raises questions about AI’s place in the industry.
“We live in a time where…things can get misappropriated quite easily on the internet, …and I wish people had more understanding of the context and facts of the circumstances.”
Adrien Brody relayed the statement above in a recent interview with Vanity Fair, where he addressed the controversial usage of AI in the recently Oscar winning film, The Brutalist. Brody leads the film playing László Tóth, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who immigrates to the United States with hopes of achieving the elusive American dream.
Brody’s performance not only secured him his second Best Actor win, but the entire film secured a total of three Oscar wins. However, the critical and commercial acclaim was swiftly overshadowed when it was revealed by the film’s editor, Dávid Jancsó, that the artificial-intelligence software Respeecher was utilized to make Brody and his co-star, who plays Tóth’s wife, Felicity Jones’ voices sound more authentically Hungarian.
In the interview, Jancsó detailed that he fed his own voice to the machine, citing how Hungarian is a very difficult language to master, especially in a short amount of time.
“We coached [Brody and Jones], and they did a fabulous job. But we also wanted to perfect it so that not even locals will spot any difference,” Jancsó explained in his interview with Red Shark News.
Despite the use of AI having a very minimal presence in the period drama, controversy and outrage still erupted online, with many taking issue with the fact that not only was the usage of AI not disclosed until after the film’s release, but that it had also been nominated for a number of academy awards.
One user on X called for the film to be disqualified from getting any academy awards, citing that “it’s a slippery slope” to award Brody. A Reddit user also called for the award nominations to be rescinded, accusing the Oscars of “[losing] the plot” if they were to award the film.
Others, myself included, found ourselves with a much more moderate opinion, viewing the usage of AI as part of what it is actually intended to do: help people make their lives easier.
TikTok user Movie Good or Movie Bad was one such person with that opinion. They explained how many films other than The Brutalist, such as Dune and Emilia Perez, have also used artificial intelligence in post-production in order to make work easier and save more time, noting that the truly harmful form of AI is Generative AI, one that has been documented to plagiarize other artists’ works and be harmful to the environment.
People’s strong emotional reactions to The Brutalist using AI is a symptom of a society’s greater fears surrounding the ever-increasing presence of artificial intelligence. Many have felt discomfort with how quickly companies are rushing to implement AI into their apps and websites, even when users don’t want it there.
These anxieties have particularly been heightened for those that work in arts and entertainment industries: part of the cause for the 2023 WGA Writer’s Strike were fears over artificial intelligence undermining jobs and allowing companies to utilize people’s voices and likeness without their consent.
The music industry is already seeing these actions be committed when rapper Drake utilized an AI-generated voice of Tupac in his diss track, “Taylor Made Freestyle.” So, while the usage of AI in The Brutalist might have not been to the same levels as others, the subsequent outrage has merit and understanding.
The utilization of artificial intelligence in The Brutalist is a clear reminder that, whether people like it or not, artificial intelligence is becoming a more prominent part of our society.
What should now be the focus is ensuring that AI does not become a tool weaponized against us—it should and can be a tool for good. AI can make getting through more tenuous parts of film production much less time consuming: the 2021 film Dune utilized AI to save hundreds of hours of work that would’ve been spent digitally altering the blue eyes to look more saturated. But when utilized recklessly and with no care, such as Generative AI, we risk destroying the world and an industry that ultimately becomes hollow and meaningless without humans.
There needs to be a balance when dealing with AI, and The Brutalist uses it in a way that betters production without taking away from human work or harming the environment in the process.