- AI actress Tilly Norwood is close to securing professional representation in Hollywood
- Xicoia studio developed Tilly Norwood, an AI-generated performer and creative work
- Norwood debuted in a comedy sketch titled AI Commissioner exploring future TV development
A studio that developed an artificial intelligence (AI) actress named Tilly Norwood is in talks with Hollywood executives and agents who are willing to represent her. At the Zurich Summit last weekend, actress and technologist Eline Van der Velde stated that her AI talent studio, Xicoia, was close to completing the deal about Norwood's representation.
If an agent manages to successfully sign her, Norwood would be among the first AI-generated performers to secure professional representation, traditionally reserved for human actors.
"When we first launched Tilly, people were like, 'What's that?' Now we're going to be announcing which agency is going to be representing her in the next few months," Ms Van der Velde was quoted as saying by Variety.
Norwood appeared in her first role in a comedy sketch titled "AI Commissioner" which explores the future of TV development.
"Can't believe it...my first ever role is live! I star in 'AI Commissioner,'" Norwood posted on her Facebook page.
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Hollywood stars protest
As Norwood attracted agency interest, Hollywood stars have come out in protest against the move. In the Heights star Melissa Barrera took to Instagram Stories to post: "Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$. How gross, read the room."
Meanwhile, Matilda star Mara Wilson asked: "And what about the hundreds of living young women whose faces were composited together to make her? You couldn't hire any of them?"
Amid the sharp negative rebuke, Ms Van der Velde clarified that Norwood was not a 'replacement' for humans but a 'piece of art'.
"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," she said.
"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."
AI has been previously used to de-age actors, bring back the voice of late actors and even helped stitch movie trailers, but it is the first time that an AI actress might go mainstream.
