{"id":484927,"date":"2026-01-21T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?post_type=newspack_nl_cpt&p=484927"},"modified":"2026-03-27T08:56:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:56:45","slug":"ai-dancers","status":"publish","type":"newspack_nl_cpt","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_es\/newsletter\/ai-dancers\/","title":{"rendered":"Can AI replicate dance?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A dancer performs during DanceHack 2024 at Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland on Sept. 29, 2024. Photo by Juliana Yamada for CalMatters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Can artificial intelligence replicate one of the most complex human art forms \u2014 dancing \u2014 and is it a threat to dancers and their profession?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporteros de CalMatters set out to answer those questions<\/a> by first testing four commercially-available AI video-generation models: OpenAI\u2019s Sora, Google\u2019s Veo, MiniMax\u2019s Hailou and Kuaishou\u2019s Kling. The models were prompted to depict humans performing nine different dances, including bird dancing as practiced by the Cahuilla Band of Indians, folkl\u00f3rico and the Mashed Potato from the 1960s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All 36 videos failed to generate a video of a person performing the specific dance requested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though these results, which reporters ran late last year, were underwhelming, they showed a marked improvement and generated fewer visual inconsistencies from results that were initially tested in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI\u2019s ability to quickly improve its photorealistic content and its implications with the dance industry underscore how the technology affects other creative fields and artists. In 2023, Hollywood writers and actors<\/a> went on strike in part to address the usage of AI replicating their work. Video game motion actors and voice actors<\/a> last year also walked off the job to seek protections from AI. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While dancers don\u2019t have to worry too much for now about AI replacing them, some dancers CalMatters spoke with expressed concern about how their performance videos posted online are helping AI models train themselves, without dancers\u2019 permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n