AI actress Tilly Norwood creator claims we should judge her by merit, but my mind is already made up

Date:
Tue, 30 Sep 2025 10:45:11 +0000

Description:
Studio Xicoia has created AI actor Tilly Norwood, but despite what they say, I'm concerned.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Meet Tilly Norwood, the product of the worlds first artificial intelligence
( AI ) talent studio, Xicoia. She's got accounts all over social media, is actively looking for agent representation and studios are reportedly [via Deadline ] "circling" to get her in their movies.

Unsurprisingly, this has received a wave of backlash from Hollywood actors
and creators alike, alongside humble film and TV fans like me. Emily Blunt
has dubbed the move [via Variety ] "really scary," urging agencies "not to do that," but creator Eline Van der Velden has a different opinion.

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, Van der Velden said at Zurich Film Festival. Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power
of creativity."

But in a world that's already charged to the point of explosion, the last
thing we need right now is more sparked conversation. Instead of being one of the best AI tools of 2025 , Norwood is one of the most unnecessary... but
it's the broader changes to the streaming landscape that I fear the most.

On her path to (hopefully) securing an agency for Norwood in the next couple
of months, Van der Velden claims she should judged as part of their own
genre, on their own merits, rather than compared directly with human actors.

But we're not talking about the likes of gorgeous hand-drawn animation by Studio Ghibli , or painstakingly crafted VFX and CGI we've seen hits like Avatar and Dune . Sure, real people have made Norwood what she is, but she'd
be acting alongside real people, on real sets, in real life.

As the X post above rightly suggests, there will likely be a big boycott from our favorite A-list names when it comes to working with Norwood... if she
even gets that far. If we're indeed judging her on merit, that means copious auditions, screen tests, rejections and extensive background work.

But that's what I'm worried about the most. If Norwood is going to succeed anywhere, it's in the streaming landscape and once she sneaks into the likes of a Netflix original movie, the floodgates are open.

It's like dominoes: once one thing becomes acceptable, so does a multitude of others. AI actors could be the gateway for complete AI productions, made by
AI crew and produced by AI sponsors. We're already seeing people experiment with this on a wider level (just look on YouTube ), but Norwood is exactly
the sort of turning point to make AI reliance commonplace.

I sound like a dystopian dictator pitting the worth of AI against humans, but
I don't want to open any of the best streaming services around to watch
content generated by a machine. The best stories are the ones that come from authentic experiences, heart, and raw vulnerability.

People are messy and so are their lives, and that just can't be replicated on the big or small screen. As Whoopi Goldberg said on The View: "You know what? Bring it on. You can always tell them from us. We move differently, our faces move differently, our bodies move differently.

We're tech people at TechRadar, so obviously we know AI has its time and
place. But I can't help thinking of that viral quote from Joanna Maciejewska when it comes to the likes of Tilly Norwood: "I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so
that I can do my laundry and dishes."

======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/streaming/entertainment/ai-actress-tilly-norwood-cre ator-claims-we-should-judge-her-by-merit-but-my-mind-is-already-made-up

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Hello Mike!

** On Tuesday 30.09.25 - 10:05, Mike Powell wrote to All:

AI actress Tilly Norwood creator claims we should judge
her by merit, but my mind is already made up

Date:
Tue, 30 Sep 2025 10:45:11 +0000

Description:
Studio Xicoia has created AI actor Tilly Norwood, but
despite what they say, I'm concerned.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Meet Tilly Norwood, the product of the worlds first
artificial intelligence ( AI ) talent studio, Xicoia.

Perhaps much ado about nothing. Tilly Norwood is not much
different than how animation or cartoons have affected actor's
jobs. She's just the poster-child for a new creative tool.

--
../|ug

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Studio Xicoia has created AI actor Tilly Norwood, but
despite what they say, I'm concerned.

Perhaps much ado about nothing. Tilly Norwood is not much

>different than how animation or cartoons have affected actor's
>jobs. She's just the poster-child for a new creative tool.

I think it's a bit differnt when this 'animated' character looks
so real you can't tell it's not a live person.

In theory that could take a lot of less major roles away from
live actors but (one hopes) a good actor can't be replaced by
an AI manufactured 'person'..

It tends to suggest something else though, such as a way to
create real looking extreme sexual or violent content without
risking or hurting any live people. That's the sort of thing
that you can't get rid of so this is a way to maybe satisfy
a lot of the consumers of such smut without exploiting live
people or children to create it..

---
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Studio Xicoia has created AI actor Tilly Norwood, but
despite what they say, I'm concerned.

Perhaps much ado about nothing. Tilly Norwood is not much

>different than how animation or cartoons have affected actor's
>jobs. She's just the poster-child for a new creative tool.

I agree that it is at least some ado about nothing. ;) I would point out
that most cartoons do employee actors/actresses to supply the voices. Some pretty famous actors/actresses have supplied voices to many characters,
while others have found their primary line of acting work in supplying voices.

With at least some of the CGI animation work done over the years, there has
to be someone wearing the "green suit" and making the motions that the animation is later added to.

I get the impression that an AI actor/actress wouldn't require a human to supply their voice or motions for them.

Mike


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Rob Mccart wrote to AUGUST ABOLINS <=-

It tends to suggest something else though, such as a way to
create real looking extreme sexual or violent content without
risking or hurting any live people. That's the sort of thing
that you can't get rid of so this is a way to maybe satisfy
a lot of the consumers of such smut without exploiting live
people or children to create it..

That thought's been in the back of my head for some time. Hurtful,
non-consensual urges are a part of the reptilian brain that we can't
escape. We can try to supress those feelings, for some it's a
neverending struggle. For some, the urges win out, and we have people
committing crimes against others.

Would a VR world where people could exercise their non-consensual urges
exorcise their drive to fulfill those urges in real life or motivate
them further?

We, as a society still don't know what to do with people who can't
integrate into society. We've tried incarceration, we've tried
electrochemical means of changing behavior, and I don't think it's
worked. I don't know what the answer is and I don't think that
capitalism cares.



... UNPRISON YOUR THINK RHINO
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We, as a society still don't know what to do with people who can't
integrate into society. We've tried incarceration, we've tried
electrochemical means of changing behavior, and I don't think it's
worked. I don't know what the answer is and I don't think that
capitalism cares.

While I agree that incarceration *in jails* doesn't work, putting them in mental hospitals seemed to work better than what we do now... ignoring a
lot of them until it is too late... and I would like to see us go back to
that.

The fact that we don't anymore is not something I can squarely blame "capitalism" for. The original argument to stop hospitalizing came from the side of the political spectrum not usually associated with being pro- capitalism. They had a belief that it was better to try mainstreaming the mentally ill, and doing other things to try changing their behavior, instead
of keeping them locked away from the rest of society. They didn't have much support for their idea until they started using the "but it will save the government money" argument to manipulate the other side into doing what they wanted.


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