Tilly Norwood, the AI-generated star, has been at the center of a firestorm in Tinseltown. Practitioners, industry professionals, and actors are strongly raising their voices on how artificial intelligence can pour dirt all over the acting profession. Eline Van der Velden conceived Tilly Norwood, a compelling original character given life with the help of a computer program. This program uses the performances of hundreds of actual actors to define Tilly’s appearance. This regressive change has been met with swift critique from the biggest names in the entertainment industry.
Eline Van der Velden announced on September 27 during the Zurich Summit that Tilly Norwood is in discussions with a talent agency for representation in acting roles. Van der Velden Tilly should be considered a work of art, she stressed. For these reasons, he argues against her being seen as a substitute for live performers. The algorithmic computer program that designed Tilly was trained on the performers’ work. Unfortunately, this was all done without their consent or fair compensation.
In her statement on Instagram, Van der Velden defended her creation, stating, “For 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.” She added, “Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity.”
The bad news is that many people in Hollywood are alarmed. Actors, particularly those of the screen variety, are concerned that AI-generated characters will replace human actors. Emily Blunt found the notion of Tilly Norwood getting signed by a talent agency “terrifying.” She added, “Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection.”
SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, put out a statement emphasizing that Tilly Norwood cannot officially be called an actor. “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,” the statement read. They further noted that AI-generated characters lack life experience and emotion, asserting that “audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience.”
On a recent episode of “The View,” Whoopi Goldberg explained why this is so troubling. She contended that AI-generated performers such as Tilly have an “unfair advantage” over human actors. She remarked, “You are suddenly up against something that’s been generated with 5,000 other actors … so it’s a little bit of an unfair advantage.”
The backlash against Tilly Norwood points to larger issues in the adoption of artificial intelligence in creative industries. Some industry professionals fear that relying on AI could undermine the unique emotional depth and relatability that human actors bring to their performances.
