AI Is Going Hollywood With 'Hyperreal' Digital Actors, Talent Studios, & Production Companies

For the past several weeks, the name Tilly Norwood has been on the lips of many a Hollywood insider. Given all the talk, you'd think that Norwood was set to become Tinseltown's next big thing via a coming slate of high-profile acting gigs. But that is not the case, as Tilly Norwood has yet to book even a minor role in any film or television series. Rather, Norwood is the talk of the industry because she is not a real actor. She's actually not real at all, and exists only in the parameters of the AI program that spawned her.

Yes, Tilly Norwood is 100% an AI entity. And if she's been getting what seems like an exorbitant amount of the spotlight in Hollywood of late, it's because she is, arguably, the most convincing AI actor the world has ever seen. Perhaps more concerning to those in show business is that her existence seems to be heralding a full-blown AI invasion, which may upend the entertainment game in ways that few in the biz are prepared for.

Hollywood is hardly a novice in the AI arena, with many films having focused on the tech over the years. That tech has, in turn, been used in numerous facets of the filmmaking process. But Particle 6 — the London-based studio that created Norwood — is taking things to the next level by expanding from production into the creation of on-screen talent, and few in Hollywood seem prepared for that radical transition.  

Hollywood insiders aren't exactly lining up to book Tilly Norwood for their next blockbuster. In fact, many are openly against using any sort of AI programs in film, and lobbying to prevent AI-created actors from ever replacing human performers in a film or television production. That includes Hollywood's acting union, with SAG-AFTRA ranking among the first factions to come out against Norwood. The union did so via a strongly worded statement that frequently referred to Norwood as "it," and opened with, "SAG-AFTRA believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered. The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics."

The statement explicitly states that Norwood "is not an actor" and that the AI creation was likely trained by borrowing the look and work of countless other performers, none of whom were compensated by Particle 6 during the process. That last fact is pretty important, as part of the agreement that ended the recent actor's strike in Hollywood included explicit AI protections for performers. Nonetheless, it would, no doubt, be difficult to pin down exactly which actors contributed to Norwood's creation.

Despite the challenges ahead for synthetics, Particle 6 boss Eline Van Der Velden has defended the studio's work, calling Norwood, "a creative work — a piece of art," before equating the AI creation to other filmmaking tools like animation, puppetry, or CGI, and likely even VFX tools like green screens. Whatever the case, Van Der Velden is also setting up a talent studio for synthetic performers through Particle 6, so the debate over AI in Hollywood is likely not ending anytime soon.