The Brutalist, a period drama about a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor László Tóth (portrayed by Adrien Brody) pursuing the American Dream, had been nominated for 10 Academy Awards
The Oscars saw Adrien Brody pick up Best Actor at last night’s ceremony – after the editor confirmed he used AI to ‘enhance’ his voice.
The Brutalist, where Brody took the lead role as a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor chasing the American dream, bagged three of their ten nominated awards. However, the film had previously been at the centre of controversy after it was revealed AI played a huge role in the making. AI software ‘Respeecher’ was used to alter the cast’s Hungarian accents to make them more realistic. Oscar-nominated editor, Dávid Jancsó, revealed the use in an interview with RedShark News.
He revealed that, to make American Brody sound more authentic when they spoke Hungarian in the film, they used the AI technology. Brody, whose mother is Hungarian, spend most of the film speaking Hungarian-accented English; their characters speak their native language only a few times.
Some social media fans were disappointed with the news. One X user wrote: ‘When AI helps actors win Oscars, you know it’s a game-changer!”
Another added: “Adrian Brody in The Brutalist had AI help enhance his accent in the film. And he just won best actor How on earth was he even considered in the category?”
A third noted: “Adrien Brody used AI to make his accent more believable in the film the Brutalist, which he just won the Oscar for best actor for. One year after the AI Hollywood strike, a shameless industry as usual.”
“Timothee spent 5 years working to emulate bob dylan. meanwhile adrian brody couldn’t perform without AI enhancement,” added a fourth.
Tech guru Deborah Perry Piscione – who penned ‘Employment is Dead: How Disruptive Technologies Are Revolutionizing the Way We Work’ – revealed the impact of AI to the Mirror US. “The Brutalist’s approach with Respeecher represents something new – using AI to enhance rather than replace the actors’ linguistic performances.
“What makes The Brutalist case particularly significant is that it potentially offers a middle ground – allowing actors to maintain their core performances while achieving greater linguistic authenticity through targeted AI enhancement.”
Deborah went on to say: “The controversy around The Brutalist might end up being seen as a turning point – either as the moment when AI accent enhancement became normalized as just another filmmaking tool (like CGI or sound mixing) or as the start of a broader pushback against AI’s role in modifying human performances.”
Because the film only used AI for “phonetic refinement,” as Deborah put it, she suggested it “indicates a potential future where artificial intelligence serves as a precision tool for enhancing authenticity rather than replacing human performance entirely.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
