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Emily Blunt Declined AI for 'Disclosure Day' Alien Voice

She recorded the inhuman clicks and breaths herself to protect human performance while studios invest more in generative-AI tools.

Overview

  • Emily Blunt said she refused to use generative AI for a pivotal scene in Disclosure Day and instead produced clicking, humming and strange breathing sounds herself that were captured on set and shaped in post.
  • The production recorded Blunt with two microphones—one at her mouth and one at her throat—and the film's sound designer processed those tracks to create the final alien voice.
  • Blunt described the sequence as a four-minute continuous shot that builds to the nonhuman language, and she chose the human-made approach because she was "a bit terrified" of using AI for the effect.
  • Director Steven Spielberg has publicly argued that AI should be a tool rather than a creative substitute, and Blunt's choice follows her earlier comments criticizing the Tilly Norwood AI-generated 'actress' and agency interest in synthetic performers.
  • The disclosure about on-set technique comes as studios increase AI spending—Amazon MGM announced a GenAI Creators' Fund—raising questions about whether human actors and sound crews will keep primary creative roles or be replaced by automated methods.