Creators of AI Actress Tilly Norwood Respond to Backlash, Create New Talent Agency

Should AI actors have agents? The head of an AI tools company has responded to backlash over one of its creations, an AI actor dubbed Tilly Norwood. In a post on the Tilly Norwood Instagram account, Eline Van Der Velden, the CEO of AI production company Particle6, said that Norwood is “not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art.” 

As reported by Variety, several Hollywood actors responded angrily to the idea that Tilly Norwood might be represented by an agent and put into competition with live actors for roles. 

“Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$,” actor Melissa Barrera wrote on her Instagram account. “How gross, read the room.” 

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Some say using an AI actor for traditional roles violates labor agreements with acting guilds. 

The entertainment industry is battling over whether AI tools will replace humans. AI has been a major issue in acting strikes, and earlier this year, a group of Hollywood actors petitioned to outlaw AI training on copyrighted work.

In the social media post, Van Der Velden continued, “I also believe AI characters should be judged as part of their own genre, on their own merits, rather than compared directly with human actors.”

Particle6 has been criticized over the issue of traditional Hollywood agent representation for AI creations. Recently, Van Der Velden announced that the company is spinning off an agency for AI creations called Xicoia. But that doesn’t mean the main agency would stop providing traditional representation for its AI creations.

“Xicoia creates and manages the AI talent (think IP management) but they could also license out for mainstream representation, where required/requested and where appropriate,” a spokesperson for Particle6 told CNET.

Norwood has appeared in a YouTube video from Particle6, and her Instagram account currently has nearly 11,000 followers. A parody account with a similar name has also popped up.