Do Britons care if a film uses artificial intelligence?
The Brutalist and Emilia Pérez are at the heart of another year of controversy for the Academy Awards. While there’s a cloud hanging over Jacques Audiard’s gangster musical for other reasons, both movies have attracted negative headlines for their use of artificial intelligence. Emilia Perez employed voice cloning technology to change its lead actor’s singing voice, while The Brutalist used AI tools to tweak Hungarian-language dialogue and generate renderings of architectural drawings (the filmmakers have since said that all images that appeared in the final film were “hand drawn by artists”).
So, what do the public think about artificial intelligence at the cinema? YouGov data shows that nearly half of Britons say it’s acceptable for filmmakers to deploy AI while making a movie (48%) – while two in five (39%) say it is not.
Those aged 18-34 are least likely to condone the use of this technology (44%), while those aged 55 or older are more forgiving (51%).
But this is just a snapshot of general opinion – as we demonstrate below, when you get into specific uses of this technology, perspectives tend to vary. And while Britons are overall more accepting of AI at the movies than not, this permissiveness doesn’t extend to ceremonies like the Oscars or the BAFTAs.
Those aged 18-34 are least likely to condone the use of this technology (44%), while those aged 55 or older are more forgiving (51%).
But this is just a snapshot of general opinion – as we demonstrate below, when you get into specific uses of AI, opinion varies. And while Britons are overall more accepting of AI at the movies than not, this permissiveness doesn’t extend to ceremonies like the Oscars or the BAFTAs.
Overall, just 29% of the public think films that have used AI should be eligible for these kinds of awards – while 45% say they should not be allowed to compete for major gongs.
From special effects to scripting, what Britons make of how AI is used in films
Perhaps accustomed to the use of CGI in blockbuster films, the public are most accepting of AI when it comes to special effects, e.g. lighting and environmental effects (78%). And while the use of machine learning to upscale older films to higher resolutions than they were originally filmed in has been criticised, the public are broadly fine with it (62%). The same goes for automated voice dubbing for films in other languages (58%).
They draw the line, however, at de-aging actors using AI – a technique seen in recent blockbusters such as Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny. Just 37% are okay with the practice, while 56% are opposed to it. Similarly, the public don’t welcome digital resurrections of actors via AI. It’s an application of the technology that raises certain ethical questions about the rights of the deceased – and, perhaps relatedly, one that is deeply unpopular. Under a quarter of Britons (23%) think bringing back dead or unavailable actors using AI is acceptable, while two-thirds do not (68%).
And while small tweaks to human vocal performances – e.g. those used to improve The Brutalist’s accent and vocabulary work – are more accepted than cloning a human voice performance entirely (e.g. James Earl Jones’ turn as Darth Vader in the Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries), Britons aren’t keen on either use of the technology. Some 29% vs. 63% think the former is acceptable, while 16% vs. 76% believe the latter is acceptable.
In slightly more positive news for The Brutalist, we also polled its decision to include an intermission at the halfway point of its three-and-a-half-hour runtime. Overall, 7% think every movie should have one, 27% say there should be break in the middle of any movie with a two-hour-plus runtime, and 35% believe the same of any movie over three hours long. This puts support for reintroducing intermissions at about two-thirds of the public (68%).
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YouGov polled 2,002 British adults online on 27-28 February 2025. The survey was carried out through YouGov Surveys: Self-serve. Data is weighted by age, gender, education level, region, and social grade. The margin of error is 2% for the overall sample. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Self-serve.