SAG-AFTRA has issued a statement condemning Tilly Norwood, the AI “actress” who has become a contentious subject in Hollywood after her creator, Eline Van der Velden, recently claimed that multiple talent agents were interested in signing the AI creation. The acting guild believes “creativity is, and should remain, human-centered” and “is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.”
“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,” SAG-AFTRA wrote in a statement. “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 guild added, “Signatory producers should be aware that they may not use synthetic performers without complying with our contractual obligations, which require notice and bargaining whenever a synthetic performer is going to be used.”
Amid growing industry backlash against Tilly Norwood, who was created by the AI production studio Particle6, creator Eline Van der Velden issued a defense by saying Tilly “is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art.”
“I see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool, a new paintbrush,” Van der Velden added. “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.”
Hollywood stars such as Melissa Barrera, Kiersey Clemons, Mara Wilson and more were quick to condemn the AI creation on social media. Whoopi Goldberg opened an episode of “The View” by doubting an AI “actor” like Tilly could ever replace a human performer, adding: “You can always tell them from us. We move differently, our faces move differently, our bodies move differently.”
During a podcast interview with Variety, Emily Blunt was shown a picture of Tilly Norwood and reacted with shock and fear.
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“Does it disappoint me? I don’t know how to quite answer it, other than to say how terrifying this is,” Blunt said. “No, are you serious? That’s an AI? Good Lord, we’re screwed. That is really, really scary, Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection.”
Read SAG-AFTRA’s full statement on Tilly Norwood in the post below.
From Variety US