Tilly Norwood: She Isn't Art, She Represents Data.
The threat to human creativity from technology took another step closer in recent days through the introduction of Tilly Norwood, the first 100% AI-generated actor. As expected, her launch during the Zurich cinematic gathering in a comic sketch called AI Commissioner provoked strong reactions. The film was called “terrifying” by Emily Blunt and Sag-Aftra, the actors' guild, criticized it as “threatening artists' careers and cheapening human creativity”.
Numerous issues surround Norwood, including the implications of her “girl-next-door” image for young women. Yet the graver concern involves her facial features being derived from actual performers absent their permission or notification. Her lighthearted debut masks the fact that she embodies an innovative system for producing media which disregards established conventions and regulations governing artists and their work.
Tinseltown has foreseen Norwood's debut for years. Movies like the 2002 science fiction film Simone, depicting a director who designs an ideal actress digitally, along with 2013's The Congress, featuring a veteran star being digitally captured by her production company, turned out to be incredibly forward-thinking. Last year's shocker The Substance, featuring Demi Moore as a declining famous person who creates a younger replica, likewise mocked the film world's fixation on youth and attractiveness. Currently, in a Frankenstein-esque turn, the movie industry confronts the “ideal actress”.
Norwood’s creator, the actor and writer Eline Van der Velden supported her by saying she is “not taking a human's place”, but “a piece of art”, describing AI as a new tool, like a paintbrush. As per its supporters, AI will make filmmaking democratic, as all individuals can create films without major studio backing.
Beginning with the printing press to audible movies and TV, all creative revolutions have been feared and reviled. There wasn’t always an Oscar for visual effects, after all. And AI is already part of film-making, notably in animated and science fiction categories. Two films that won Oscars recently – The Brutalist along with Emilia Perez – utilized artificial intelligence to refine voices. Late actors like Carrie Fisher have been brought back for roles after their passing.
However, although some embrace these opportunities, and the potential for AI thespians to cut filming budgets significantly, workers in the film industry are justifiably alarmed. The 2023 Hollywood writers’ strike resulted in a partial victory resisting the deployment of artificial intelligence. And even as leading celebrities' thoughts on Norwood are well-documented, once again, it's the lesser-known workers whose positions are most threatened – supporting and voice artists, beauticians and production staff.
AI thespians are a sure result of a world saturated with online trash, surgical enhancements and falsehood. As yet, Norwood can’t act or interact. She lacks empathy, since, obviously, she isn't human. She is not “art” either; she is data. Real cinematic magic comes from human interaction, and that cannot be artificially generated. We view movies to observe actual individuals in authentic settings, experiencing genuine feelings. We do not want perfect vibes.
But while warnings that Norwood is a doe-eyed existential threat to the film industry might be exaggerated, for now at least, that isn't to say there are no threats. Regulations are delayed and cumbersome, whereas technology progresses at a staggering pace. Further measures are needed to defend artists and cinematic staff, and the importance of human imaginative power.
