Watch AI ‘actress’ sparking concern in Hollywood
In a statement, SAG-AFTRA criticized the creation of Tilly Norwood, an AI bot, calling it a “replacement of human performers by synthetics.”
Actress Tilly Norwood continues to turn heads in Hollywood, now as a musician. But she’s still not human.
After causing a stir among actors, the fictional character made with artificial intelligence and created by the England-based company Particle6 has ventured into music with a new song and video. Titled “Take The Lead,” the track encourages listeners to appreciate the human connection to the technology that led to its existence, with the central lyric “AI’s not the enemy, it’s the key.”
“When they talk about me, they don’t see the human spark, the creativity, behind the code, behind the light, I’m just a tool, but I’ve got life,” the opening lyrics read. “I didn’t come from nowhere, no, A story’s always told, you know, It’s not a glitch, it’s taste and time, A human touch, a grand design.”
The video features a plethora of AI-generated visuals of the singer at a massive arena show, entering a limousine, and many pink flamingos, Norwood’s signature aesthetic. There are also various playful nods to its lack of humanity, from failing a CAPTCHA test to a concertgoer holding a sign reading “Tilly, I’ll eat all your cookies.”
The video opens with a disclaimer that “the following production was made by 18 real humans – from production designers to costume designers to prompters, editors and an actor.”
Norwood also teased an appearance at the 2026 Academy Awards on Sunday, March 15, with the video description reading “Can’t wait to go to the Oscars! Does anyone know if they have free valet parking for my flamingo?”
Who is Tilly Norwood?
Norwood is the “World’s first AI Actress,” according to its Instagram page, with over 115,000 followers. Initially promoted as an up-and-coming actress trying to make it in the business, Norwood has posted “screen tests” and “stills” from its “latest work.”
A July 30 video showcased its “first ever role,” in “AI Comissioner,” a comedy sketch from Particle6 that was entirely AI-generated.
Following backlash from the SAG-AFTRA union, Norwood’s creator and Particle6 founder Eline Van Der Velden defended the fictionalized character as “a creative work.”
“To those who have expressed anger over the creation of our AI character Tilly Norwood: she is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art,” Van Der Velden wrote in her own statement on Instagram on Sept. 27. “Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity.
“I see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool − a new paintbrush,” she continued. “Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories. I’m an actor myself and nothing − certainly not an AI character − can take away the craft or joy of human performance.
How has Hollywood welcomed Tilly Norwood, AI at large?
The entertainment industry has not welcomed Tilly Norwood with open arms, with several stars expressing concerns about its existence and the SAG-AFTRA union blasting its creation, “using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”
“To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation,” SAG-AFTRA’s Sept. 30 statement reads. “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.”
AI was already a concerning flashpoint in Hollywood before Norwood’s debut, though some talent have embraced the technology.
In 2022, Ben Affleck founded Interpositive, an AI-powered tool company built by and for filmmakers, which Netflix announced it had acquired on March 5. In November, Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine partnered with voice-cloning company ElevenLabs, which uses AI to replicate voices.
“ElevenLabs gives everyone the tools to be heard,” Caine said in a statement. “It’s not about replacing voices; it’s about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere. I’ve spent a lifetime telling stories. ElevenLabs will help the next generation tell theirs.”
Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usatoday.com ’
