Who Is Tilly Norwood? Five Things to Know About the AI ‘Actress’ Sparking Debate in Hollywood

Tilly Norwood has become the latest flashpoint in the growing rift between Silicon Valley and Hollywood over artificial intelligence (AI). Norwood is an AI-powered avatar made by Particle6, and it is described as an actor. The backlash from Hollywood started during the Zurich Film Festival last week, when the founder and CEO of Particle6, Eline Van der Velden, revealed that several talent agents reached out expressing interest in working with the AI avatar. Many have voiced concerns over the possibility of AI acting in films and movies, and taking away the jobs of human actors.

Five Things to Know About Tilly Norwood

1. Who is Tilly Norwood? Norwood is an AI-powered human-like digital avatar created by Particle6 and promoted by its subsidiary talent studio Xicoia. It has a vast social media footprint across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok, and also has its own website. Its first moment of mainstream popularity came in July, when Norwood starred in a comedy sketch video on YouTube titled “AI Commissioner”.

2. Why is the AI avatar in the news? Last week, at the Zurich Film Festival, Norwood made an appearance on the digital screen, grabbing attention from Hollywood stalwarts. Later, in a panel, Van der Velder told Variety that studios were moving forward with AI projects, and more announcements will come in the next few months. The actor and AI enthusiast also let the media know that Norwood had attracted the interest of several agents, who wanted to work with the AI actress.

Speaking with Broadcast International, Van der Velder made a bold prediction and said, “We want Tilly to be the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman, that's the aim of what we're doing.” She also highlighted that economic reasons were pushing the TV and movie business towards AI production.

3. The backlash from Hollywood: The announcement appears to have resulted in a strong negative response from Hollywood, primarily because Particle6 describes Norwood as an “actress” who can replace major stars. Speaking with Variety, actress Emily Blunt said, “That is really, really scary. Come on, agencies, don't do that. Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection.”

4. Blunt is not the only one to make a public statement about the AI avatar. The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), representing 1,60,000 actors, announcers, and other talents, made a statement opposing Norwood's Hollywood dreams.

"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 union reportedly said in a statement, adding, "Creativity is, and should remain, human-centred. The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics."

5. The aftermath of the backlash: Van der Velden took to Instagram to share a statement on the criticism of the AI avatar. Highlighting that Norwood is not a replacement for a human being, she said, “I see Al not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool - a new paintbrush. Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, Al offers another way to imagine and build stories. I'm an actor myself, and nothing - certainly not an Al character - can take away the craft or joy of human performance.”

Has AI Reached the Point of Replacing Humans in Creative Fields?

Understanding the arguments of both sides is very important. A pro-AI argument revolves around economic benefits (AI avatars do not charge as much as humans) and exploring new ways of expressing creativity. Van der Velden highlighted in the statement that she views AI-generated projects as a new genre, such as animation.

On the flip side, the downside is the eventual replacement of human actors and artists in favour of cheaper AI talents. As SAG-AFTRA highlighted, the reason an AI avatar or the model powering it can be used for acting and similar gigs is that it has been trained on similar data, whether by using fair means or on copyrighted content.

Can AI avatars be used for commercial Hollywood projects, and the companies behind them earn from it without paying the actors whose mannerisms and acting data have gone into creating them? These are some of the questions regulators and courts will have to find answers to, in a way that technology does not stifle human creativity or humans do the same to AI.

But perhaps the most important question to answer here is, will the end consumer care if an AI-generated actor stars in a movie instead of a real human? The answer to this question would determine the future of AI in creative spaces.