Brutalist’s use of AI for dialogue and drawings sparks backlash

As it prepares to become an awards season favorite, Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” sparked backlash on social media after its editor admitted to using AI in the film.

In an interview with tech magazine Red Shark News, editor-in-chief Dávid Jancsó revealed that AI tools from Respecer – a Ukrainian software company – were deployed to improve the authenticity of stars Adrien’s Hungarian dialogue Brody and Felicity Jones.

“I am a native Hungarian speaker and I know that it is one of the most difficult languages ​​to learn to pronounce,” Jancsó told Red Shark. “It’s an extremely unique language. We coached (Brody and Jones) and they did a fabulous job, but we also wanted to perfect it so even the locals wouldn’t see any difference.

According to Jancsó, some words are particularly difficult to pronounce, so the filmmakers “tried to ADR these more difficult elements with the actors first” to overcome this. “Then we tried to cast them completely with other actors, but it just didn’t work. So we looked for other options to improve it.

Brody and Jones recorded their voices into the AI ​​software, while Jancsó said it also fed into his vocals to “refine the tricky dialect.”

“Most of their Hungarian dialogue has a part of me speaking,” he added. “We were very careful to maintain their performance. It’s mostly just replacing letters here and there.

Jancsó also revealed that generative AI was used in the final sequence of “The Brutalist” to create a “series of finished architectural drawings and buildings” in the style of Brody’s character László Tóth.

Despite the explanation and limited use of AI described by Jancsó, the news that “The Brutalist” – which has been praised for its carefully crafted cinematic style – deployed the tool during its creation has been criticized, many people attacking social media. the decision.

One user suggested AMPAS’ decision to disqualify Hans Zimmer’s “Dune: Part Two” score from the Oscars because it used elements of the first “Dune” music, but let “The Brutalist” pass despite the use of AI in dialogue showed inconsistencies. . Another said it was a “disgrace” to use AI to “avoid paying visual artists for their work” and also to manipulate actors’ accents, which they said was a “shame”. fundamental of… acting”. Variety has contacted Focus Features and Jancsó for comment.

In the interview, Jancsó acknowledged that it was “controversial” to talk about AI, but said it shouldn’t be.

“We should have a very open discussion about the tools that AI can give us,” he said. “There’s nothing in the film that uses AI that hasn’t already been done. It just makes the process much faster. We use AI to create these little details that we didn’t have the money or time to film.