Hollywood’s New Math Favors AI Actors Over Human Actors And Taxing Won’t Stop The Rise Of Synthetic Movie Stars

InnovationAIHollywood’s New Math Favors AI Actors Over Human Actors And Taxing Won’t Stop The Rise Of Synthetic Movie StarsByLance Eliot,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Dr. Lance B. Eliot is a world-renowned AI scientist and consultant.Follow AuthorApr 26, 2026, 03:15am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Making films with human actors versus AI actors is a monumental question.gettyIn today’s column, I examine the ongoing job struggles facing human actors when it comes to the increasing use of AI-generated synthetic actors. AI is getting so good at devising human-like video actors that it is nearly impossible to discern whether the movie screen contains real actors or fake actors. Thus, anxious debates are taking place about requiring a kind of special tax on machine-produced “actors” so that the costs of employing AI will be equal to the cost of using living, breathing human actors. There is already a fervent clamor globally that AI is going to take away jobs across a wide swath of industries and occupations. News headlines blare this sobering message each day. Acting is on that same chopping block. Economics makes this a near inevitability.The mainstay question is whether it is feasible to stop the mass replacement of human actors by adding an “AI usage tax” when it comes to filmmakers considering using AI actors.Let’s talk about it.This analysis of AI breakthroughs is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage on the latest in AI, including identifying and explaining various impactful AI complexities (see the link here). Advances In AI Are Encroaching On ActorsHuman actors are the lifeblood of movies and TV. You go to watch a film or video and anticipate that the actors will take you into another world altogether. Human expression and human emotion are the hallmarks of great actors. We instinctively feel their pain and joy, and be...