“This is not a real woman (Picture: Tilly Norwood/Facebook) The woman you see above might look as real as any other human, but she’s not. She’s actually an artificial intelligence-generated actress named Tilly Norwood who, after a short time on the scene, has sparked interest among talent agents who are keen to hire her. As”, — write: metro.co.uk
This is not a real woman (Picture: Tilly Norwood/Facebook) The woman you see above might look as real as any other human, but she’s not.
She’s actually an artificial intelligence-generated actress named Tilly Norwood who, after a short time on the scene, has sparked interest among talent agents who are keen to hire her.
As such, she’s been hailed as ‘the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman’, sparking outrage from big names in Hollywood, who are branding it ‘gross’ and expressing rage towards the agencies who wish to sign her.
This has led to the creator of Tilly firing back, insisting that the digital actress is not a ‘replacement’ for a human being.
Taking to Instagram, comedian and technologist Eline Van der Velden wrote: ‘To those who have expressed anger over the creation of my AI character, Tilly Norwood, she is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art.
‘Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity.’
Tilly Norwood is an AI-generated actress who’s already causing a stir in Hollywood (Picture: Tilly Norwood/Instagram) Van der Velden added: ‘I see AI 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, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories.
‘I’m an actor myself, and nothing – certainly not an AI character – can take away the craft or joy of human performance.’
She said that ‘creating Tilly has been, for me, an act of imagination and craftsmanship, not unlike drawing a character, writing a role, or shaping a performance’.
‘It takes time, skill, and iteration to bring such a character to life,’ Van der Velden argued. ‘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.’
Tilly has already made her way onto Graham Norton’s sofa… sort of (Picture: Tilly Norwood/Facebook) 
The creator has insisted she is not meant to replace humans (Picture: Tilly Norwood) She also believes that ‘AI characters should be judged as part of their own genre, on their own merits’, not compared directly to human beings.
‘Each form of art has its place, and each can be valued for what it uniquely brings,’ she wrote.
Concluding on an optimistic note, the creator shared her hopes that ‘we can welcome AI as part of the wider artistic family’ and simply as ‘one more way to express ourselves, alongside theatre, film, painting, music, and countless others’.
‘When we celebrate all forms of creativity, we open doors to new voices, new stories, and new ways of connecting with each other.’
Tilly was ‘soft-launched’ earlier this year, as accounts on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube were set up in her name, but her existence became official last week, coinciding with the launch of AI talent studio Xicoia.
Since, plenty of famous names have criticised the concept, with Mexican actress Melissa Barrera raging online: ‘Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$’.
‘How gross, read the room’, she added on her Instagram Story.
Could the digital actress be the next Scarlett Johansson? (Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) ‘Out the agents. I want names,’ said Kiersey Clemons.
Nicholas Alexander Chavez also commented: ‘Not an actress actually. Nice try.’
Meanwhile, Matilda actress Mara Wilson argued an interesting point: ‘And what about the hundreds of living young women whose faces were composited together to make her? You couldn’t hire any of them?’
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Others took a more light-hearted approach with their criticism, as actor Lukas Gage jokingly wrote that Tilly ‘couldn’t hit her mark and was late’.
This is far from the first time we’ve seen AI enter the world of showbiz—and it likely won’t be the last.
Recently, AI R&B singer Xania Monet signed a $3million (£2.2m) record deal, after clocking up a staggering 17m streams in just two months.
The singer was created by 31-year-old poet and designer Talisha Jones, using Suno, which is essentially another branch of ChatGPT which is used to transform her written lyrics into songs.
Her breakout single, How Was I Supposed to Know?, even reached the top 10 of Billboard’s R&B Digital Song chart. That, along with her four other tunes, has so far generated $52k (£39k) in revenue.
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