An “AI actor” named Tilly Norwood has been causing a stir after its Dutch creators said the synthetic performer is in talks with talent agencies.
Norwood could be mistaken for a young, aspiring actress when one glances at its social media. The brunette poses for photos and showcases a fully AI-generated comedy sketch, where it is described as having “girl next door vibes.”
“I may be AI, but I’m feeling very real emotions right now,” Tilly’s creators wrote on her page. “I am so excited for what’s coming next!”
Hollywood is not rolling out the red carpet. Its powerful actors union has condemned the creation, along with A-list stars like Emily Blunt, Natasha Lyonne and Whoopi Goldberg.
Norwood “is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers,” the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA, said in a statement.
“It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience,” the union said.
The AI actor was created by Dutch actor and comedian Eline Van der Velden who reportedly said she wanted Norwood to become the “next Scarlett Johansson”. The BBC has reached out to Van der Velden and her company, Particle6.
Norwood’s Instagram page includes headshots from faux filming tests and an advertisement spoofing programs on the BBC, including being superimposed on the often-star-studded couch on BBC’s The Graham Norton Show.
Amid the anger and backlash in Hollywood, the Dutch creator posted on Tilly’s Instagram page to say that the creation is “not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art”.
“Creating Tilly has been, for me, an act of imagination and craftmanship, not unlike drawing a character, writing a role or shaping a performance,” Van der Velden wrote, adding such creations should be judged “as part of their own genre” rather than compared to human actors.
The use of AI was a key sticking point that led to the lengthy 2023 Hollywood strikes [Reuters]
AI has been a hotly contested technology in Hollywood and was a key sticking point during labour strikes that shut down the industry two years ago as writers and actors demanded protections from the technology.
In its statement on Norwood, SAG-AFTRA reminded agencies and studios that using Norwood in projects could pose issues for contractual protections they secured after the 2023 strike.
“It doesn’t solve any ‘problem’ — it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry,” the union said.
Actress and filmmaker Natasha Lyonne, known for her leading roles in Poker Face, Orange Is the New Black and Russian Doll, said anyone who works with Norwood should be boycotted.
“Any talent agency that engages in this should be boycotted by all guilds,” said Lyonne, who is currently working with “ethical AI” to create a feature film that stars real actors.
“Deeply misguided & totally disturbed.”
Fellow actress Emily Blunt, speaking on a podcast with Variety, said the creation was terrifying.
“That’s an AI? Good Lord, we’re screwed,” The Oscar-nominated actress said when shown a video of Norwood. “That is really, really scary, Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection.”
On the US chat show The View, comedian and actress Whoopi Goldberg said audiences can tell the difference between humans and synthetic performers. She was sceptical over concerns that AI creations would steal jobs from human actors because they “move differently, our faces move differently, our bodies move differently”.
While Norwood’s Instagram has been active for months, her existence gained notoriety in Hollywood this week after trade publication Deadline reported on a summit her creator presented at in Zurich over the weekend.
Van der Velden discussed her AI production studio and her new AI talent agency – Xicoia – on Saturday, according to Deadline, and suggested that Hollywood studios and agencies were embracing AI under the radar.
She told the crowd they should expect public announcements about high-profile projects using the technology in the coming months.
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