Hollywood has not responded well to the recent report about the launch of Xicoia, the world’s first artificial intelligence talent studio and its first major AI star – Tilly Norwood.
Eline Van der Velden, Dutch founder of AI outfit Particle 6 Productions, announced Xicoia’s launch at the Zurich Film Festival and indicated that talent agents were already interested in signing her digital character.
That has led to massive backlash online with actors galore weighing in from “Fantastic Four” actor Ralph Ineson who said simply “F— off” to Emily Blunt who told Variety upon hearing about this: “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.”
So wide was the disdain that Van der Velden has subsequently had to respond, saying Tilly Norwood 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. 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. Creating Tilly has been, for me, an act of imagination and craftmanship, not unlike drawing a character, writing a role or shaping a performance.”
However the actor’s union SAG-AFTRA is not buying Van der Velden’s attempt at clarification. The group has released their own statement condemning Norwood’s creation and refusing to acknowledge her as an actor:
“The union 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.
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.
Additionally, 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.”
Regulations around the craft became a key clause through the SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023. To date, Tilly Norwood’s acting career consists of one YouTube video – a comedy sketch called “AI Commissioner”.
Source: Variety
