Natalie “Tilly” Norwood is a London-based actress signed to Particle6 Productions. After making her acting debut in a comedy sketch and working consistently with the Xicoia division of the studio, it was announced at the 2025 Zurich Film Festival that Norwood was on track to be signed by a major Hollywood talent agency. There’s no denying Tilly’s appeal — she’s an adaptable, versatile actress with both a knack for comedy as well as the dramatic chops to cry on command. She’s reminiscent of the “girl next door,” graced with fair skin, a warm smile, kind eyes, and an inexplicable sheen of perfection over every angle. She’s perfect. A little too perfect.
That’s because Tilly Norwood doesn’t exist. Tilly Norwood is completely, 100%, artificial intelligence.
This past year, Xicoia, an AI talent studio, built Tilly Norwood using generative AI models trained on data from professional actors. Tilly’s creator, Eline Van der Velden, describes her as the “endlessly adaptable and always available” performer studios dream of, framing her as an effective new tool that the industry should embrace with open arms. “Creating Tilly has been, for me, an act of imagination and craftsmanship, not unlike drawing a character, writing a role or shaping a performance,” Van der Velden wrote on Instagram under @tillynorwood, asserting that the creation of Tilly was a “super ethical” and “transparent” process developed by a team of fifteen people. Van der Velden defends Tilly as Hollywood’s future, an essential gateway to lower production costs and entwine the inevitable onset of rapid technology within the studio system. Her goal is to champion how AI can be used as a force for good — to Van der Velden, AI is not the enemy.
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) and technical effects have long existed within the entertainment industry, with the first use of early computer graphics and rudimentary automation techniques in the late ’80s. The late-20th century saw the rise of CGI in blockbuster films such as “The Matrix” (1999) and “Toy Story” (1995), showcasing its effectiveness in creating huge spectacles of special effects as well as realistic animated character movements. The ubiquity of CGI in action and sci-fi movies has led to the emergence of AI-driven editing tools in the 21st century, with popular softwares like Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve evolving to directly analyse footage and suggest cuts, significantly reducing the time editors spend on post-production. Nowadays, AI can be used to scout filming locations, aid in cost estimation and logistics planning, predict expenses, create character designs, perform colour correction and sound editing, and even assist in developing character arcs and script pacing.
While there’s no denying that AI is a helpful tool in eliminating mundane tasks, the threat of AI rests in the fact that these tasks could have otherwise gone to a working individual. A study by consulting firm CVL Economics in 2024 surveyed generative AI usage in 300 major industry leaders and estimated that artificial intelligence will overtake 62,000 entertainment jobs in California within three years of the study. While these low-level jobs may seem disposable enough to be streamlined by AI, most people don’t know how essential these positions are to the career ecosystem of the entertainment industry. Successful directors, producers, and writers often get their start working as a production assistant, location scout, assistant editor, or assistant director on a set. Working in these roles gives them the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the industry and set themselves up for success when they eventually rise up the ranks and create their own projects. This is one of the only ways for artists to gain invaluable firsthand knowledge and working experience that they can directly apply to their future careers. Taking away this imperative step to minimize a few costs is simply a selfish ploy from studios to maximize their earnings.
Today, AI is entrenched in every stage of film production: it has transitioned from being an occasional aid to a financial crutch. “The tool itself is almost never the issue,” said Brandon Jarratt, technical director of the Animation Guild’s AI task force. “The studios are always looking for ways to spend less money.” The looming threat of AI has become a major talking point amongst industry professionals. During the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, both guilds released a statement reading, “Creativity should remain human-centered” and sought guardrails to ensure consent and fair compensation for any use of AI to create digital replicas or synthetic performances. Many Hollywood agencies like WME also weighed in, saying they would not represent AI actors. This staunch opposition from industry creatives stems from a place of fear and uncertainty regarding the increasingly real possibility for hardworking industry professionals to be replaced by AI.
However, it is also clear that there are useful, tangible benefits to using AI to facilitate artists’ responsibilities. Earlier this year, controversy regarding the use of the AI tool “Respeecher” to enhance actor Adrian Brody’s Hungarian accent in “The Brutalist” (2024) caused many to boycott their support for the film and undermine Brody’s Best Actor win at the Academy Awards. “You can do this in ProTools (audio software) yourself,” states the film’s editor Dávid Jancsó. “But, we had so much dialogue in Hungarian that we really needed to speed up the process, otherwise we’d still be in post-production.” In the world of independent film, limited budgets and production times can seriously hinder whether the film has the ability to be made or not. Against this backdrop, AI helps eliminate unnecessary costs and speed up production, allowing independent voices to champion their stories. “As an independent film producer, anything that frees up funds to allocate to camera packages, costumes, set decorations, or other creative placements is fantastic” said producer Taylor Nixon Smith. “These tools have the potential to help create something more objectively beautiful or innovative … as a dyslexic writer, I find AI to be a helpful substitute for an editor.” AI can democratize the filmmaking process — filmmakers no longer need a huge budget or a major studio’s backing to platform their voices; all they need is their story and a willingness to embrace new tools. Resources that were once monopolized by big studios are now accessible to indie filmmakers, so why shouldn’t they embrace them?
AI in art is a slippery slope, and there’s no definitive answer as to who, when, or where it should be allowed. While AI’s lowering of production costs can help independent filmmakers break into the industry, what’s stopping big studios from exploiting these technologies and wreaking havoc on the entire industry? There is no right or wrong answer, and your stance ultimately comes down to personal ethics. In my opinion, using AI as a vessel to accomplish tasks more efficiently can be immensely helpful in championing independent cinema, uplifting marginalized voices, and giving those who may not have the financial means a chance to break into the industry. But can I trust that all industry professionals hold the same care for artistic authenticity and won’t use AI for exploitation? I can only hope, and the lack of certainty scares me. I believe that Tilly Norwood’s introduction to Hollywood marks a shift in how the industry is embracing generative AI. It is a huge leap from using technology to streamline repetitive tasks to creating an actual person with the potential to sign to a major Hollywood agency. Even if Norwood wasn’t created with the intention of replacing human actors, the allure of a cheap, endlessly flexible actress at a studio’s fingertips marks an immense threat to the livelihoods of working actors. AI is only acceptable when it is used to facilitate human creativity, without replacing it. In Norwood’s case, AI isn’t a tool, it’s a shrill, soulless replacement for human art.
In the words of our prophet Ethan Hawke, “Human creativity — art — is the sustenance we need to nourish our souls.” The ability of art to articulate a part of you that you’ve never been able to put into words is really special. Moreover, the ability of someone to create something that allows the viewer to move out of their lived experience and touch the hearts of other people has inexplicable value. Art matters. “Art’s not a luxury … we need it,” Hawke said. We need human emotion to sustain and color our lives, and AI doesn’t have the capacity to create real, human stories because it isn’t human. I don’t want to live in a world where my only source of connection to others is a soulless cash-grab film made by a computer.
I want to live in a world where tragic experiences can be turned into cathartic stories and move people across the world. I want to live in a world where film can connect people of all backgrounds and ages and genders and classes and lived experiences. I want to live in a world where I know whatever I just watched was created with a heart and soul. The industry must work harder to enforce safeguards against exploitative AI use and ensure that our future is in safe hands. I don’t want to live in a world where human art is devalued. A world with no art is not a world humans were made to exist in.
