The creator of AI actress Tilly Norwood has released a statement following a weekend of heated backlash over the news that talent agents were already interested in signing the digital character.
“To those who have expressed anger over the creation of my AI character, Tilly Norwood, she is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art. Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity,” Eline Van der Velden wrote in a statement on Instagram, also posted on Norwood’s own Instagram page.
“I see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool, a new paintbrush. Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories. I’m an actor myself, and nothing – certainly not an AI character – can take away the craft or joy of human performance.”
Norwood is the first creation to emerge from recently launched AI talent studio Xicoia, a spin-off from Van der Velden’s AI production studio Particle6. Speaking at the Zurich Summit on Saturday, Van der Velden said that agents had been circling the AI character and an announcement would be made over which agency would be representing her in the coming months.
The news sparked a wave of resentment, especially from within the acting community, with several well-known names chiming in among the hundreds of angry messages left in online comments sections. Several suggested that the anger should be targeted at whichever agent signed Norwood.
“Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$. How gross, read the room,” wrote Melissa Barrera on Instagram.
“Out the agents. I want names,” added Kiersey Clemons.
“And what about the hundreds of living young women whose faces were composited together to make her? You couldn’t hire any of them?” noted Mara Wilson.
Adding a touch of humor to the vitriol, Lukas Gage wrote that Norwood was a “night to work with!!!!” and “couldn’t her mark and was late!”
Toni Collette, meanwhile, succinctly responded with a series of screaming emojis.
See the statement from Van der Velden below.
Speaking to Broadcast International in July, Van der Velden said she wanted Norwood “to be the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman.”
