MPSE Golden Reel Bans Generative AI Sound From Award Eligibility  

The Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards will not accept projects created with generative AI for awards consideration.

In a statement released on Thursday, the MPSE cited the lack of legal and ethical standards surrounding the use of generative AI as the primary concern behind their decision. 

“We support and prize technological advances that assist artists in their creations,” the statement read. “However, standards for the legal and ethical use of Generative AI have yet to be established and are far from being accepted broadly. What we choose to promote as award-worthy points to how much we value the human endeavor of artistic creation.”

The Golden Reel Awards honor achievements in sound editing, sound design, music editing and foley artistry in film, television and gaming. Back in February, “Dune: Part Two,” “Emilia Perez,” “Wicked,” “The Wild Robot” and “Saturday Night” each won an award at the 72nd annual ceremony. TV category winners included “Ripley,” “Shogun,” “The Penguin” and “Only Murders in the Building.”

The statement continued, “As the industry evolves to adopt tools and techniques, current or yet to be developed, our board of directors and AI committee are poised to evolve our stance on this issue, ensuring we adhere to our mission. We remain open to what the technological future may bring in support of the humans working in the craft of sound editorial.”

As the use of generative AI continues to infiltrate the entertainment industry, David Barber, MPSE President, made a call to action for developing guidelines in order to preserve the integrity of films and TV.

“It is an enormous question to ask: how much of our humanity are we willing to give away to technology, especially in the arts,” he said. “The time to ponder that question, set up boundaries, and guide how AI is assimilated into our workflow and lives was yesterday. The dam of AI has broken, and the waters are upon us. Choosing what we embrace as award-worthy filmmaking is a way of diverting those waters while we grapple with this exponential change. As AI technology infiltrates and permeates our industry, rules and accepted practices for its use need to emerge that keep artists at the forefront.”