Meet Tilly Norwood, the AI-generated actress facing backlash in Hollywood

Tilly Norwood is looking for a Hollywood agent, but there is one thing setting her apart from other performers aspiring to make it in the film industry: she is not a real person.

Rather, she's an artificial intelligence-generated actress, the product of a company named Xicoia, which bills itself as the world's first artificial intelligence (AI) talent studio.

The virtual performer has become an internationally recognised name since Eline Van der Velden, who created Norwood, spoke at a summit at Zurich Film Festival on Saturday.

But Hollywood has been less than welcoming, with A-listers expressing their outrage and an allegation that Norwood may have been based on real actors.

Tilly Norwood's creator wants her to become the 'next Scarlett Johansson'

Van der Velden, who is the founder of Particle6, a company that states on its website that it has created digital content for the likes of BBC iPlayer, Deliveroo, and Pizza Express, spoke on a panel at the Zurich Summit on Saturday, Hollywood news outlet Deadline reported.

While there she said that a number of talent agents were interested in signing Norwood, the first creation of her AI shoot-off startup, Xicoia.

“We want Tilly to be the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman, that’s the aim of what we’re doing,” Van der Velden is cited telling Broadcast International in an interview earlier this year.

Although interest in Norwood has only gained traction in the past few days, Van der Velden initially unveiled the synthetic star on July 30. A social media account for Norwood has been actively posting content since May 6.

In a showreel-style Instagram post from August, the account wrote: "In 20 seconds I fought monsters, fled explosions, sold you a car, and nearly won an Oscar. All in a day’s work… literally! Find yourself an actress who can do it all,” along with the hashtag #AIActress.

'Tilly Norwood is not an actor': Performers say AI performer 'devalues human artistry'

The news of Xicoia product was met with an immediate wave of backlash from actors, filmmakers and their unions.

In a statement shared on Tuesday, the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) said that “creativity is, and should remain, human-centred”.

The statement added: “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.

“It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience.

"It doesn’t solve any 'problem' — it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry."

The Instagram account for Norwood was inundated with negative comments, including one from "Game of Thrones" actor Sophie Turner who commented: “Wow … no thanks".

Comments on posts on the account have now been disabled and hidden, but that hasn't stopped other stars from sharing their thoughts on Van der Velden's creation.

“Russian Doll” actress Natasha Lyonne described the move from the AI startup as "deeply misguided & totally disturbed, while "Scream" star Melissa Barrera wrote: “How gross, read the room.”

Emily Blunt said: “That’s an AI? Good Lord, we’re screwed,” after being shown a video of Norwood by Hollywood publication Variety.

“That is really, really scary. Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection.”

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In a statement posted to her Instagram account, Van Der Velden responded to the backlash and said Norwood is not meant to replace human actors.

“To those who have expressed anger over the creation of our AI character Tilly Norwood: she is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art.

"Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories.

“AI characters should be judged as part of their own genre, on their own merits, rather than compared directly to human actors.”

British actress claims her likeness was used in the creation of Tilly Norwood

Briony Monroe, a 28-year-old actress from Scotland told The Scotsman on Wednesday that she believes Tilly Norwood was partially based on her likeness, as one particular image used to promote Norwood resembled her.

“I've been contacted by so many people asking if the new AI actress is based on me. I'm really concerned that my image performance and rights have been breached, but the lack of transparency means I'm in the dark."

She added that her mannerisms were copied in a specific scene featured in Norwood’s “showreel”.

She said that Equity, the trade union for those in the performing arts and entertainment industries in the UK, is supporting her and has reached out to Xicoia and Particle on her behalf

In response, a spokesperson for Particle 6 told ITV News: "Briony Monroe’s likeness, image, voice, or personal data have not been used in any way to create Tilly Norwood.

"Tilly was developed entirely from scratch using original creative design. We do not and will not use any performer’s likeness without explicit consent and fair compensation.

"We are working with Equity to address any concerns."

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