Most of us have heard about Tilly Norwood by now – the actress created using AI by Xicoia, a division of film production company Particle6 Group – and the controversy surrounding her creation.
Recently, the creators of Norwood have spoken up, insisting that synthetic performers will get more actors working rather than steal jobs.
Who is Tilly Norwood?
Norwood is a 20-something-year-old AI actress who was ‘born’ earlier this year and has since had Hollywood up in arms, with actors such as Emily Blunt labelling her as “really, really scary”.
The US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, meanwhile, said in a statement: “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.”
This is one of the core critiques expressed by the industry, that Norwood has no life experience or emotion to draw from and instead relies on using ‘stolen’ performances in its training.
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Responding to the backlash
Following mounting backlash, actor and comedian Eline Van der Velden – founder of Particle6 – insisted that Norwood is “not meant to take jobs in the traditional film”.
AI entertainment is “developing as a completely separate genre”, she told Sky News before adding: “And that’s where Tilly is meant to stay. She’s meant to stay in the AI genre and be a star in that.
“I don’t want her to take real actors’ jobs. I wanted to have her own creative path.”
In a statement posted on Norwood’s Instagram account – which boasts almost 70,000 followers – back in September, Van der Velden doubled down on her stance, highlighting how creating Norwood was “an act of imagination and craftsmanship”.
“It takes time, skill, and iteration to bring such a character to life. She represents experimentation, not substitution. Much of my work has always been about holding up a mirror to society through satire, and this is no different,” she wrote.
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Embracing use of AI
Van der Velden further told Sky News that the film industry has to learn how to incorporate AI technology and not shy away from it.
“We can’t stop it,” she said.
“If we put our head in the sand, then our jobs will be gone. However, instead, if we learn how to use these tools, if we use it going forward, especially in Britain, we can be that creative powerhouse.”
The Particle6 founder also revealed that her studio’s AI has already helped with a number of projects that were struggling due to budget constraints.
“Some productions get stuck, not able to fund the last 30 per cent of their budget, and so they don’t go into production,” Van der Velden explained.
“Now with AI, by replacing some of the shots […] we can actually get that production going and working.
“So as a result, we get more jobs, we get more actors working, so that’s all really, really positive news.”
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