I’m at drama school, and anytime AI is mentioned I feel like a kid that’s sworn in front of their parents. No one wants it, no one is excited about it, and everyone seems concerned by what it means for our industry. It’s not just a vague fear either - there are real concerns about how AI could change acting, performance, and even the ownership of our own likenesses.
One of the biggest discussions right now is about data scanning. You can have your body scanned in 3D, and suddenly, there’s a digital version of you that can be placed into different scenarios. Technically, there are more parameters around this now, but they’re still pretty loose. I know this first-hand, but when I was 14, I was data scanned and later saw myself as a background extra in a movie. I wasn’t particularly stressed about it at the time, and honestly, I’m still not. But the fact is, I didn’t sign anything. I just walked in, got scanned, and now I’m in a system where my image could be used indefinitely in all sorts of ways. And the scariest part? I have no way of knowing if they’ve used me again.
It’s even more frightening with deepfakes, for actors who have already established themselves because they can be manipulated in ways that don’t serve them. But for all of us actors, our face, our body, and our voice are our intellectual property. That’s what we build our careers on. If AI can manipulate those things without our consent, or even our knowledge, then that’s a problem. I know someone who recently auditioned for a role, and the only way they got the part was by agreeing to be data scanned. He also didn’t sign anything, and now he has no control over how that scan might be used in the future.
Beyond the ethical concerns, there’s also the artistic side of things. Acting is about process, not just product. When you watch a performance, you’re seeing the result of an actor’s personal experiences, emotional depth, and the work they put into crafting that role. You can’t replicate that with AI. AI can mimic, sure, but it can’t truly create true performance. It doesn’t have personal experiences, relationships, or emotions, it just pulls from existing data. At drama school, it's these human elements that we hone in on.
But there’s also the financial side to consider. One of my friends was in a Mazda ad and got paid £60,000 because they wanted his voice for multiple international markets. If AI could perfectly replicate his voice, he’d have been paid significantly less. Do I think you need to get paid £60,000 for an ad? Maybe not. But it does highlight the fact that our voices, our bodies, our performances are commodities in this industry, and AI threatens to devalue them.
One interesting controversy recently was around the movie The Brutalist, where AI was used to touch up an actor’s accent to make it more authentic to the character’s background. The performance itself was all him, moment to moment, deeply personal, but because AI was involved, people questioned whether he should even be eligible for awards. That’s the debate we’re in right now: at what point does AI’s involvement cross a line?
Of course, AI is already deeply integrated into filmmaking, CGI, post-production, research tools, but when it starts to alter performances, that’s when I reckon people will start pushing back. The general feeling among actors is that AI can copy, but it can’t create. Great films and performances come from original perspectives, unique experiences, and human emotion. If AI starts generating entire films from pre-existing works, we’ll just get a flood of bland, derivative content. And honestly, who wants to watch a film made up of recycled ideas?
That’s why I think we’re actually seeing a shift back toward traditional filmmaking. There’s a renewed love for shooting on film, for practical effects, for live theatre. Tarantino, for example, is championing film over digital, and big-name actors are returning to the stage for the authenticity of live performance. Because no matter how advanced AI gets, it can’t replicate the uniqueness of a live show. It can’t replace the magic of being in the room, feeling the energy of the audience, and knowing that this moment, this performance, will never happen in exactly the same way again.
So while AI might have its place in other industries, in acting, I don’t think it’s ever going to replace what we do. And honestly? I don’t think audiences want it to either - well, here’s hoping anyway!
