The creator of AI actress Tilly Norwood has defended her development (Pictures: Particle6)
When the arrival of the world’s first AI actress was announced last year, the backlash came thick and fast – including from Hollywood stars such as Emily Blunt and Sophie Turner.
While Tilly Norwood might appear like any young aspiring actress – an ‘English rose’ with big brown eyes, smiling for the cameras with pearly white teeth and a near-perfect blow-out, coupled with an impressive 90,000 followers – she is actually not real at all.
Instead, she is the creation of Eline Van der Velden, a Dutch actress, comedian and physicist who founded the AI production company Particle6 Group just over a decade ago.
After four months of development, last year she announced Tilly to the world – firstly in the UK where she received a largely positive reception.
But when Tilly was introduced at a panel at the Zurich Summit last year and it was revealed she would be signing with an agency – Hollywood swiftly hit back.
Tilly – and Eline herself – faced significant outrage. Sag-Aftra denounced her for ‘devaluing human artistry’, Emily Blunt called the development ‘terrifying’ and Natasha Lyonne said Tilly was ‘deeply misguided and totally disturbed.
The actress’ roll-out was announced last year (Picture: Particle6)
However, she was accused of ‘devaluing human artistry’ (Picture: Particle6)
The response was so severe that Eline even received death threats.
Postulating why there was such opposing responses in the two countries, Eline said there were ‘a lot more working actors who thought this might take their jobs’ in the US.
She also explained that the size and commercialisation of the US market also meant that ‘innovation is a lot more difficult there’.
Despite the push-back, she hasn’t let it stop her, with plans continuing to see Tilly star in her own projects within what Eline dubs the ‘Tillyverse’.
When initially releasing a statement about the backlash to Tilly, Eline wrote: ‘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.’ As Tilly’s own Instagram bio reads: ‘You’ll either get it or pretend you don’t.’
The idea for Tilly initially came when Eline stumbled across a string of AI influencers filtering through her social media feed, which sparked the idea to make her own character.
Tilly’s creator Eline Van der Velden has said she ‘is not a replacement for a human being’ (Picture: Particle6)
‘It was like a creative experiment,’ she said. ‘I am a scientist as well as an artist and I thought “let me try this out and see what I can do”,’ she explained. ‘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.’
When she was introduced, Tilly was described as ‘the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman’. Her Instagram also features a string of posts showing her in faux filming tests and even superimposed on The Graham Norton Show’s iconic red couch.
Although much of the criticism of Tilly centred around concerns she would take the job of a human actor, Eline stresses there are no plans for her to appear on screen alongside a real-life co-star.
Instead, she will feature in AI-generated content, with several productions featuring the actress already in development.
For Eline, AI actors are simply the next step in the screen industry, predicting a ‘creative renaissance’ is on its way. She also views embracing the technology as a way to ‘future-proof’ her career.
As she explains, Tilly is also an ‘extension’ of herself, who is a ‘vessel’ to act through.
Eline said creating Tilly has allowed her to ‘future-proof’ her career (Picture: Particle6)
‘You can still be creative – all those creative thoughts still go into Tilly when she needs to become a new character. All of that creative energy and skill is in there. I’ve been more creative than ever before – even more so than as an actor,’ she said.
The roll-out of Tilly sparked intense discussions about the role of AI in the entertainment industry, which Eline admits was her goal.
‘I wanted to help the creative industry prepare for this creative revolution that is coming,’ she shared. ‘It’s a new evolution in our industry and us as creatives need to be prepared for it. If we hadn’t done it, someone else would have. I was very happy I was able to inform everyone of where the tech is at with something like Tilly.’
Addressing the ‘fearmongering’ that AI is going to take jobs from people, Eline said she’s witnessed the complete opposite to date. ‘It’s actually hiring a crazy amount of people for jobs that haven’t existed before. So actually, I think it’s job creation that is happening rather than job losses.’
When asked what the biggest misconception about Tilly and AI actors were, she singled out the incorrect belief that very little work went into creating them, with 15 working together to make Tilly herself.
‘People just think it’s a button you press and she gets created, as opposed to there being a whole team working to create her and build up a whole universe and brain – what she thinks, sounds and looks like. There is so much to create and just using these tools in order to do it and experimenting in a new creative way,’ she said. ‘There is real humanity and humans behind this.’ She went on to share how she thought there might have been similar concerns when animation ‘first arrived’.
Natasha Lyonne said Tilly was ‘deeply misguided and totally disturbed’ (Picture: Tommaso Boddi/ Variety via Getty Images)
Despite the strings of creatives who spoke out against Tilly, several directors have already expressed their interest in working with her. But due to the concerns over pushback, they’ve chosen to remain anonymous for the time being.
As Eline explains: ‘We understand it’s tricky out there. But we are giving people time to accept that this is where it is going.’
Looking forward to the future of the screen industry, she went on to assert that there would be ‘very few films made without AI’ in the coming years.
‘That will be unheard of – it will be like not using electricity of Wi-Fi. But there are humans behind these characters which will make people feel more comfortable with the idea of AI actors. We are already seeing it on the internet – but just not an AI A-lister yet,’ she went on.
Although Eline wanted Tilly to be a ‘groundbreaking’ disruptor in the industry, she didn’t anticipate just how huge the response would be.
The AI actress is now set to be the centre of the ‘Tillyverse’ (Picture: Xicoia/ Tilly Norwood, Instagram, Particle6)
Acknowledging people’s concerns, she also pointed to how she found seeing her first AI-generated image and viewing it as ‘scary’. But as she explained, AI actors and musicians were ‘basically an extension of the people that created them’, comparing them to writers who create characters on a page.
As she inches closer to announcing Tilly’s first major projects, Eline doesn’t apologise for her groundbreaking invention – backing it as a first step in a major overhaul for the screen industry.
‘As an artist you just want to spark a conversation – it doesn’t matter if positive or negative. That’s the point of the art – creating something to get people talking and we did that and I’m really happy,’ she said.
‘Hopefully it sparks a lot of people futureproofing themselves because that is the goal. And I think loads of companies, studios and actors have taken steps since Tilly has been released to future-proof themselves as part of this new world. I am happy and proud to have been able to help with that.’
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