AI Is Never Going to Replace Actors… Or Is It?
AI Is Never Going to Replace Actors… Or Is It?
Is there a future for actors?
It’s a fair question. Given the astonishing pace of development in Artificial Intelligence, it’s starting to feel like nothing’s off-limits. AI can write scripts, design sets, generate faces, clone voices, and even recreate performances from actors who are long gone. So, logically, it’s only a matter of time before we ask the uncomfortable question: Will AI replace actors?
For screen work, maybe. Or at least some of it.
Studios have already started exploring the use of AI-generated extras and digital doubles — not just to save money, but to have full creative control over every blink, breath and eyebrow. You can see why it’s appealing. No trailers, no contracts, no unexpected sick days.
But for actors? It's unnerving.
The Screen Is Starting to Blur
In film and TV, we’re already seeing the edges start to blur. AI can simulate emotion, replicate expressions, and deliver a line with near-perfect timing. It's not hard to imagine a near-future where certain roles — especially the minor ones — are fully synthetic.
In fact, if we're being brutally honest, some performances in big-budget blockbusters already feel halfway there. You know the ones: wooden, over-processed, and oddly hollow. AI might not be better, but it can definitely be cheaper — and in some boardrooms, that’s what counts.
So, yes, it’s possible that parts of the industry will lean heavily into this technology. We may start seeing more digital actors on our screens, whether we notice or not.
But Theatre? Not a Chance.
And yet, there’s one place I don’t see AI ever taking hold: the theatre.
Now, I know — theatre has a bit of a reputation. It can be treated like some sacred, untouchable temple. That tone of hushed reverence can make it feel intimidating or overly precious. But when you strip all that away, what you’re left with is something beautiful: real people, telling stories, in the same room as you.
That can’t be digitised.
There’s a unique power in the live moment. The audience and actors are sharing time, space, breath — all of it. Every performance is slightly different. Anything can happen. That sense of liveness, of risk, is what makes it matter.
You Had to Be There
We’ve all seen CGI spectacle. Explosions, space battles, cities collapsing. But the thing that stays with you — really stays — is the moment you felt something genuine, in real time. A monologue delivered with trembling hands. A moment of stillness that holds the room. A burst of laughter that wasn’t in the script.
Those are the moments AI can’t replicate. Because they’re not scripted. They’re shared.
And that’s where theatre has the edge. It doesn’t pretend to be perfect. It doesn’t need polishing in post. It’s raw, vulnerable, and immediate — and in an increasingly virtual world, that might be the most valuable thing it offers.
A Future Worth Facing
So, will actors be replaced?
In some spaces, probably. We might lose a few background roles and generic performances to the machines. But in the spaces where storytelling is most human — most present — actors will always matter.
And theatre may well become the place where their craft is most fiercely protected.
It might not be shiny. It might not be trending. But it will be real.
And, frankly, we’re going to need more of that.
If you’re someone who wants to build that craft — to learn how to tell stories in the most human way possible — our full-time and part-time acting courses in Glasgow are open for applications. Whether you’re starting out or returning to the work, we’ll help you build technique, presence, and confidence in a space that values the live, the real, and the honest.
Because no matter what the machines are doing, the world still needs actors.
