The Emmys reserve the right to ask if you used AI

New rules from the Television Academy give the body the right to inquire about the use of slop, reasserting "human storytelling" as the core of recognition.

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  January 9, 2026 | 2:52pm
(Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
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The Emmys reserve the right to ask if you used AI

The Television Academy has released some guidelines regarding the use of AI in submissions. Per Variety, the new rules rolled out Friday, which assert that the organization “reserves the right to inquire about the use of AI in submissions. The core of our recognition remains centered on human storytelling, regardless of the tools used to bring it to life.” While it reserves the right to ask, the rulebook does not yet specify the consequences, if any, for excessive or even moderate AI use. That could spell doom for Tilly Norwood’s Emmy chances, and she was a lock for the “Outstanding Overhyped Garbage & Media Spin” category. We’d hate to see such an ageless talent go unrecognized.

The organization will release the full 2026 Rules & Procedures book the week of January 19. In it, the Academy will lay out new rules for “made-for-TV” movies, now known as “movies.” The “Outstanding Television Movie” is dropping the “television” (it’s cleaner) and will now be known as “Outstanding Movie” to “reflect the evolving landscape of cinematic content created for broadcast or streaming.” In other words, movies like Netflix’s Rebel Ridge, which should have received theatrical releases, will no longer be burdened by the word “television.” It would be such a shame for a $300 million fiasco like Electric State, which used some AI for voice modulation, to be considered a “made-for-TV-movie.” We have to wonder if the Academy would’ve inquired about their use of AI had it been nominated.

 

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