Tilly Norwood, the world's first AI actress, was announced last year as the creation of Eline Van der Velden, a Dutch actress, comedian, and physicist. She was first introduced in the UK, where she received a largely positive reception, and later at a panel at the Zurich Summit, where it was revealed she would be signing with an agency. Hollywood swiftly hit back with significant outrage after Tilly Norwood's introduction at the Zurich Summit.
Sag-Aftra denounced Tilly Norwood for devaluing human artistry, while Emily Blunt called the development terrifying and Natasha Lyonne said it was deeply misguided and totally disturbed. Eline Van der Velden received death threats due to the backlash. Eline Van der Velden said there were a lot more working actors who thought this might take their jobs in the US compared to the UK, explaining that the size and commercialisation of the US market meant that innovation is a lot more difficult there.
She is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art. Nothing – certainly not an AI character – can take away the craft or joy of human performance.
She plans for Tilly Norwood to star in her own projects within what she dubs the 'Tillyverse', and in a statement, she wrote that Tilly Norwood is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art and that nothing – certainly not an AI character – can take away the craft or joy of human performance. Eline Van der Velden described creating Tilly Norwood as a creative experiment that was never meant maliciously and said Tilly was never going to take anyone's jobs. She stresses there are no plans for Tilly Norwood to appear on screen alongside a real-life co-star.
Eline Van der Velden founded the AI production company Particle6 Group just over a decade ago, and Tilly Norwood was developed over four months. The idea came when Van der Velden stumbled across AI influencers on social media. ' Her Instagram features posts showing her in faux filming tests and superimposed on The Graham Norton Show's red couch.
It was like a creative experiment. I am a scientist as well as an artist and I thought 'let me try this out and see what I can do'. It was never meant maliciously. She was never going to take anyone’s jobs or anything like that, and we still haven’t done that.