The woman behind AI “actress” Tilly Norwood endeavors to create dozens more synthetic performers, despite the widespread condemnation of her original creation.
Actress and technologist Eline Van der Velden, who founded the AI production studio Particle 6, told Deadline she intends to “create 40 very diverse new characters to build [Tilly’s] universe and to play in this AI genre with a whole new cast” for her AI talent studio, Xicoia.
“We’ve got a few in the making but none are ready for release. It takes a long time to get something I’m happy with,” Van der Welden said, noting Tilly was a roughly six-month “ongoing process.”
The news of additional characters is likely to be met with backlash by many in Hollywood, including members of the SAG-AFTRA union, who have already decried Tilly as a dangerous creation that could ultimately push real-life actors out of the industry, while those behind the AI profit off the past performances of unpaid stars.
In late September, the Screen Actors Guild — whose 118-day work stoppage in 2023 was in part related to concerns about AI — took a stand against Tilly and “actors” like her, saying “creativity is, and should remain, human-centered.”
“The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics,” the union said in a statement. “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. It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion.”
But Van der Velden countered that claim, telling Deadline her characters are “not using anyone else’s likeness without fair compensation or explicit consent.” She also attempted to quell the anxieties about what AI means for art and the entertainment job market.
“Tilly is not going to take your job,” she said. “I feel strongly that there are three genres: animation, traditional live action and the AI genre. Tilly was always meant to be in her AI genre, and that’s where she’ll stay.”
Van der Welden further argued that her business actually supports traditional filmmaking by helping to “reduce budgets so projects can enhance creativity with real actors.”
“Plus, there’s the environmental element,” she said. “It’s an 80% to 90% carbon footprint reduction if you use AI for certain shots. It’s also safer in some instances. Xicoia is really an extension into the AI universe and AI world. And that’s where Tilly lives and that’s where she should stay.”
