Hollywood Is Creating 'Digital Doubles' To Protect Actors From AI

Whether we are ready for it or not, it would seem that the AI revolution is well underway. But the fight to control the AI takeover has already been well-publicized in the entertainment industry, where Hollywood actors and filmmakers are understandably concerned about ceding their place in the business to highly intelligent, if potentially soulless, computer programs.

The worries are particularly persistent for actors, some of whom fear that studios may one day replace them with computer-generated performers or even seek to use AI renderings of their likeness in film and television products without their consent. While there is seemingly little to be done about the former issue, some in Hollywood are attacking the latter problem head-on by creating digital doubles of themselves. They are doing so for the purpose of securing full control over any digital representation that may be used in the creation of film, television, video game, commercial, or online content.

As it is, actors who have already endured the intensive process to make a digital double are not entirely doing so to prevent the use of their digital likeness. Many are, instead, seeking to ensure they get paid via licensing agreements should those likenesses are used. The licensing aspect should also make it easier for actors and their representatives to hold creators accountable should their digital likeness be used without consent. 

Fears of artificial intelligence have been rampant in Hollywood for several years now. In fact, AI protections for actors, writers, and creatives played a central role in the 2023 Writer's Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes. While the issues were seemingly put to bed when the strike was settled, the AI debate has continued to be a legitimate hot-button issue for many in showbiz over the ensuing years, with many in the business still openly against the use of AI programs at any point in the creative process. 

The debate reached a bit of a fever pitch in October of 2025 when Particle 6 studios released a sizzle reel depicting an actor named Tilly Norwood. The actor, of course, does not exist on any real plane of existence and is instead a computer-generated creation from Particle 6, an English studio that specializes in AI-generated film and television endeavors. As for Mrs. Norwood, many were legitimately shocked at how lifelike she appeared in the brief video showcase, which depicted her in projects from various genres as well as in a television interview.

Still, many in the film and television industries were quick to dismiss Particle 6's hyperreal creation. SAG-AFTRA reps ranked among the most vocal opponents of Norwood, releasing a blistering statement that stated in no uncertain terms that the computer-generated creation "is not an actor." Even as studios don't seem to be throwing work at Tilly Norwood, the AI avatar's very existence would seem to prove that Hollywood's AI battles are far from over.