TL;DR

The creator of AI actress Tilly Norwood has defended the synthetic performer against Hollywood criticism, arguing that AI entertainment is developing as a “completely separate genre” and will actually help more productions get made—creating more jobs for real actors, not fewer.

The Controversy

AI production studio Particle6 has sparked significant debate in Hollywood by unveiling Tilly Norwood, a 20-something actress created entirely by artificial intelligence. The backlash has been swift, with Mary Poppins Returns star Emily Blunt calling the technology “really, really scary.”

The US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA issued a pointed 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.”

The Creator’s Defence

Speaking to Sky News, actor and comedian Eline Van der Velden—who founded Particle6—insisted Norwood is “not meant to take jobs in the traditional film.” AI entertainment is “developing as a completely separate genre,” she explained. “And that’s where Tilly is meant to stay. She’s meant to stay in the AI genre and be a star in that.”

Van der Velden argued that Hollywood “is going to have to learn how to work with [AI] going forward. We can’t stop it. 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 Business Case

The studio founder pointed to practical benefits for struggling productions. “Some productions get stuck, not able to find the last 30% of their budget, and so they don’t go into production,” she 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.”

Looking Forward

The debate around AI performers touches on fundamental questions about creativity, compensation, and consent in the age of generative AI. While Van der Velden positions AI entertainment as a separate, complementary industry, the concerns raised by SAG-AFTRA about training data and performer rights remain unresolved. For UK creative industries, the outcome of these debates will likely shape how AI tools are integrated into production workflows.

Source: Sky News