The creator of the AI actor Tilly Norwood has said she received death threats after a global backlash against the project, and said she developed it to \u201cprovoke thoughts and discussion\u201d about the impact of AI in the entertainment world.<\/p>\n
Eline van der Velden caused anger and panic in Hollywood<\/a> and beyond last year after she said talent agents had been interested in signing her creation. Prominent actors and acting unions immediately condemned the idea.<\/p>\n In an interview with the Guardian, Van der Velden said she had been prepared for a backlash against the provocative idea of AI performers. However, she said she was \u201cquite shocked by the vitriol\u201d that followed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe death threats and the hate \u2026 my goodness, loads,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s still going, but much less now. I totally understand the reaction. I made her to represent the fear \u2013 and to represent this change in AI as an art piece, in a way. I was just like, this is the zeitgeist.\u201d<\/p>\n Van der Velden, who founded the production company Particle6 and its AI arm, Xicoia, debuted Norwood in a short comedy sketch called AI Commissioner<\/a> last autumn. Norwood has her own social media accounts, with 141,000 followers on Instagram.<\/p>\n An immediate backlash came from actors including Melissa Barrera, Mara Wilson and Ralph Ineson. The actors\u2019 unions Sag-Aftra and Equity also raised concerns. When asked about Norwood on a podcast, the actor Emily Blunt said<\/a>: \u201cGood lord, we\u2019re screwed.\u201d<\/p>\n Van der Velden said it had been a deliberately provocative exercise to shock the industry into understanding how far the technology had come. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to provoke thoughts and discussion,\u201d she said. \u201cSo yes, I wanted to make people sit up and go \u2018holy moly\u2019. So in a way I achieved my goal.\u201d<\/p>\n An AI-generated image of Tilly Norwood. Illustration: Particle 6<\/p>\n Van der Velden continues to be an advocate for the use of AI. She said the technology \u201cmight actually be a blessing\u201d for some actors who wish to avoid fame. She said avatars like Norwood could be controlled by real performers using motion capture technology.<\/p>\n