The use of artificial intelligence is one of the most controversial topics among our age group right now. Some think it is a harmless enhancement or brainstorming tool, while others find it to be an environmentally harmful way to cheat. There are so many different ways to use it, and it can be tough to decide where and when its use is ethical.
Dávid Jancsó, editor of the 2024 historical drama film “The Brutalist” — which has been nominated for ten Oscars — recently revealed that AI was used in order to improve actors’ Hungarian accents.
Starring Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, Brady Corbet’s film follows a Hungarian architect who escapes to America following World War II. Although the film has a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 4.1 stars on Letterboxd, it seems to now only be receiving backlash because of the AI enhancements.
The specific software used was Respeecher, a Ukrainian software company that helped to perfect the tough Hungarian vowels. Both Brody and Jones worked with dialect coaches for the accents, but Corbet wanted it to feel more authentic and true to the culture, which I think is completely valid.
Most of the film is in English anyway, and Jancsó himself admitted that he is “a native Hungarian speaker” and “know[s] that it is one of the most difficult languages to learn to pronounce.”
I do not think that the film should be facing criticism for using AI to enhance accents, especially given that there are more important matters to confront regarding the subject — like pornographic deep fakes and the spread of blatant misinformation, for example.
However, I do not think that the use of AI in this film should be entirely supported either. Using AI leaves a large carbon footprint, and as the earth grows warmer, I cannot justify encouraging the use of something that contributes to it.
That being said, AI should not be normalized in such cases, but “The Brutalist” does not deserve all the hate it is receiving. There are bigger issues surrounding AI that need more attention than whether or not it will win someone a gold statue.
ajones11@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @PabloPlanovsky, X
