Artificial intelligence has slowly been encroaching on virtually every sector of society and the job market, and if you needed more proof that no profession is truly safe, AI-generated actors are getting ready to take on their human counterparts. Artificial intelligence talent studio Xicoia sparked controversy when it started promoting its impressive creation, an AI-generated actress named Tilly Norwood (pictured above). Launched by Dutch technologist Emily Van der Velden as part of her company, Particle 6 Productions, Xicoia specializes in AI acting talent, and Tilly is the startup’s first big project. Hollywood talent agents have allegedly been quietly circling Norwood for representation, and Van der Velen believes that the AI actress could one day become as big as Scarlett Johansson. The actors’ guild SAG-AFTRA issued a statement saying, “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.” An actress herself, Van der Velden tried to put fellow actors’ minds at ease by saying that she sees AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool. AI-powered news anchors, digital models and AI influencers have already been around for years, so an AI-generated actress like Tilly Norwood doesn’t really sound that sci-fi anymore. The age of synthetic actors isn’t coming, it’s here.
