The controversy surrounding the computer-generated “actress” Tilly Norwood has intensified as the UK acting union Equity publicly condemned the creation, calling it a “tool” made from the uncompensated work of human performers, per hollywoodreporter.com. This statement follows similar criticism from the US union SAG-AFTRA and reflects growing anxiety across Hollywood about the looming threat of Artificial Intelligence to actor livelihoods.
Norwood, a computer-generated character from AI production outfit Particle6 and its new AI talent studio Xicoia, sparked uproar when its creator, Eline Van der Velden, claimed talent agencies were showing interest. Van der Velden has consistently defended the project as a “new paintbrush,” asserting Norwood is “not a replacement for a human being.”
However, union executives are pushing back hard against this narrative.
“Tilly is not an actress. She is an AI tool. Or it is an AI tool. That’s not a performer,” the company’s audio and new media organizer Shannon Sailing told BBC’s Radio 4. Sailing immediately raised the core issue of consent and compensation: “But what that tool is is made up of performers’ work and we are concerned about where that work has come from, and if that’s been given consent to be used in that way.”
Equity’s general secretary, Paul Fleming, echoed the alarm, telling Sky News that the AI creation is “fundamentally disconnected from the work of acting, the craft of acting—but also the soul of a human being.”
The British union is now looking at potential legal action to uncover the AI’s source material, citing data protection regulations. Fleming stated: “We’re at the stage in AI where so much data has been used that the original source becomes more and more unclear… we have been looking at using GDPR data protection regulations to make demands of companies to find out where the data that goes into these creatures comes from to make sure that there isn’t an abuse of our members work.”
SAG-AFTRA previously weighed in with a strong rebuke, declaring: “To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers—without permission or compensation…. It doesn’t solve any ‘problem’—it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”
The anxiety over AI tools like Norwood became a central negotiating point during the SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023, and the controversy continues to worry celebrities, including Emily Blunt, Whoopi Goldberg, and Melissa Barrera.
In an official statement, Equity announced it is demanding minimum standards for the use of AI across the film and television industry. “Technological advancements must not come at the expense of those who bring art to life,” the statement concluded, emphasizing that the union is also lobbying the U.K. government to strengthen performers’ rights.
Van der Velden, despite the condemnation, maintains that AI “offers another way to imagine and build stories” without diminishing human artistry.
•Featured image: A still of the computer-generated Tilly Norwood/Xicoia
