Hollywood has a new "hopeful" by the name of Tilly Norwood — not a human actor, but rather a synthetic creation made with AI.
The brunette with the Margot Robbie smile has so far made only brief public appearances — and only on social media. It's unclear whether the AI can perform scenes with other actors, since it only does monologues facing the camera in the clips. But Tilly Norwood's presence has the actors union SAG-AFTRA and others concerned this might be a step toward replacing human talent.
"Tilly Norwood is not an actual human performer. It's an artificially intelligent construct," said actor and SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin in an interview with NPR. On Tuesday, the actors union issued a formal statement condemning the AI. "Different people will try and create new and interesting things. And it's an exciting environment. But nothing will ever replace a human being."
Astin said that under the terms of SAG-AFTRA's contract with Hollywood producers, studios may not use synthetic performers without giving notice and bargaining over terms. Many NPR employees are members of SAG-AFTRA, but are under a different contract.
AI creations are often touted as being less expensive, and they seem more and more human-like. However, human actors, like Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, have been coming to their own defense.
"The artistry and dedication and real lived human experiences of SAG-AFTRA performers is what has fueled the motion picture industry for more than a century," DeBose said in a statement. "Synthetic performers, on the other hand, are created using technology that is only as effective as the content it is trained on. This technology will never create anything original and it's technology that mines from the work of human creatives without consent or pay."
Delayed reaction
Hollywood has been slow to react to Tilly Norwood's arrival on the scene. Particle6, the London-based production studio behind the AI avatar, released a light-hearted video teaser about her in July. At the time, Particle6 founder and CEO Eline Van der Velden said in an interview with the British trade publication Broadcast International that her company was in discussions with talent agencies about signing Tilly Norwood, calling the AI "the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman."
But Hollywood only began to react this past weekend, afterParticle6 announced at the Zurich Film Festival the launch of a new AI talent studio.
"People are afraid of losing work. And actors are right to be afraid," said veteran Hollywood producer Charlie Fink, who writes about emerging technologies and the entertainment industry for Forbes and teaches on the subject at Chapman University.
It's hard to know how many acting jobs will be disrupted by AI. (A 2024 study predicts a little over 20% of film, television, and animation jobs are likely to be consolidated, replaced, or eliminated by generative AI in the U.S. by 2026 — but this research doesn't look at actors specifically.)
Background and voice actors are likely more vulnerable to the displacement than the Scarlett Johanssons and Natalie Portmans of the world. "I think that we are going to see a ton of synthetic actors," Fink said. "But I don't think in top shelf movies it's going to fly."
Particle6 declined NPR's request for interviews with Eline Van der Velden and Tilly Norwood. But Van der Velden responded to the pushback in an Instagram post on Sunday, calling the AI creation a "piece of art," and "not a replacement for a human being."
Meanwhile, some Hollywood people aren't panicking about Tilly Norwood stealing their limelight — at least anytime soon.
"Bring it on," said host Whoopi Goldberg on ABC's The View. "We move differently, our faces move differently, our bodies move differently. Maybe in two or three years it'll be seamless," Goldberg said. "But it's not seamless yet."
Jennifer Vanasco edited this story for web and broadcast.
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