<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something oddly comforting about watching Amy Poehler roast a robot \u2014\u00a0or something like a robot.<\/p>\n
During Saturday Night Live\u2019s<\/em> 50th anniversary episode, Poehler slipped one quick line into her opening monologue that summed up an entire industry\u2019s panic attack: \u201cYou\u2019ll never be able to write a joke, you stupid robot,\u201d she told Tilly Norwood \u2014 or, more accurately, the idea of Tilly Norwood, the AI \u201cactress\u201d that\u2019s been giving Hollywood the collective ick all month.<\/p>\n More from SheKnows<\/strong><\/p>\n For anyone just tuning in, Tilly isn\u2019t real. She\u2019s a computer-generated \u201cingenue\u201d created by Eline Van der Velden\u2019s company, Particle6, and unveiled at the Zurich Film Festival earlier this month. Van der Velden casually mentioned that Tilly would soon be represented by an agency, and that was all it took. Within days, the internet was ablaze with nihilistic takes on the new \u201cactress.\u201d Agents were alarmed. Actors were furious. Economists were writing essays about her. One of them, Tyler Cowen, even called her his favorite actress, which \u2014 deep breath \u2014 was weird.<\/p>\n Poehler\u2019s joke landed because it said out loud what so many people have been trying to intellectualize into oblivion. Before she took the swing, she reminded the crowd that when SNL<\/em> first aired in 1975, women couldn\u2019t even get credit cards. Then she pivoted to the AI \u201cactress\u201d taking up headlines.<\/p>\n What makes Tilly feel different from past experiments like virtual influencers is that she\u2019s being treated like a person. Variety<\/a><\/em> reported that major agencies\u2019 interest in representing an AI actor felt, to many in the industry, like a line had been crossed. Tilly isn\u2019t just a pretty face on a screen; she\u2019s a projection of every fear about automation and creative labor that\u2019s been simmering since the strikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n And let\u2019s be real: this isn\u2019t just a Hollywood problem. Apps like OpenAI\u2019s Sora 2<\/a> can already make hyperrealistic videos on demand, giving anyone the ability to create their own \u201cstars\u201d without hiring a soul. Synthetic influencers and algorithms<\/a> have already quietly taken over corners of the internet. What\u2019s happening on red carpets and talent rosters is just the glossy version of something that\u2019s been happening in our feeds for a while.<\/p>\n As she closed with her perfectly ridiculous sign-off, Poehler addressed the AI actress directly: \u201cAnd to that little AI robot watching TV right now who wants to be on this stage someday, I say to you \u2014 beep boop beep boop. Which translates to: \u2018You\u2019ll never be able to write a joke, you stupid robot.\u2019 And I am willing to do full frontal, but nobody\u2019s asked me, okay!\u201d<\/p>\n The robots may be learning fast. But so far, they still can\u2019t tell a good joke.<\/p>\n \n