What’s your favorite Tilly Norwood movie? Of course I’m kidding! Tilly only does television. No, the real joke is that there is no Tilly Norwood; “she” is an AI “actress” whose “existence” and imminent signing with an agency was revealed by creator Eline Van der Velden on Saturday at the Zurich Summit. I don’t know what Van der Velden was expecting, but what she got was a big fat NOPE. The word salad explanation she posted to Instagram had exclusively negative comments (which have all since been deleted), and the acting community has been outraged, understandably. Emily Blunt was on a Variety podcast when presented with Tilly for the first time and was positively horrified. Variety told her that Tilly was being angled as “the next Scarlett Johannson,” to which Blunt gravely replied, “but we have Scarlett Johansson.” And thankfully, Scarlett Johansson and her fellow live, human actors have union protection. SAG-AFTRA has now released an official statement condemning the very notion of an AI “actress,” while also reminding studios of contractual obligations regarding AI:
SAG-AFTRA has issued a statement condemning Tilly Norwood, the AI “actress” who has become a contentious subject in Hollywood after her creator, Eline Van der Velden, recently claimed that multiple talent agents were interested in signing the AI creation. The acting guild believes “creativity is, and should remain, human-centered” and “is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.”
“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,” SAG-AFTRA wrote in a statement. “It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience. It doesn’t solve any ‘problem’ — it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”
The guild added, “Signatory producers should be aware that they may not use synthetic performers without complying with our contractual obligations, which require notice and bargaining whenever a synthetic performer is going to be used.”
Amid growing industry backlash against Tilly Norwood, who was created by the AI production studio Particle6, creator Eline Van der Velden issued a defense by saying Tilly “is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art.”
“I see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool, a new paintbrush,” Van der Velden added. “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.”
SAG-AFTRA absolutely had to weigh in, here, and I love how they also put the studios on notice, too. Newly-elected president Sean Astin really has his work cut out for him now with the contract renegotiations set to take place next year! As for Van der Velden and her baloney sandwich, let’s do this. First, the comparison of AI to animation, puppetry, and CGI, and Van der Velden saying those three disciplines didn’t take away from live acting. She’s making a false equivalency here. Yes, animation, puppetry, and CGI are practices at the intersection of art and technology, but those fields employ humans in the work of crafting the product, and the product itself is a storytelling tool that is made and operated by humans. Plus, and most obviously, animated characters and puppets and CGI effects are not in direct competition with actors! But Van der Velden IS doing that with Tilly, which is what makes it so egregious. Why is an agency about to sign Tilly, if not for potential profit? And aside from the abundant impracticalities — how do live actors perform with an AI actor, I ask you? — it’s just so profoundly f–king wrong. AI creators want us to buy the metaphor of AI being “a new paintbrush,” without acknowledging — but SAG-AFTRA is demanding we remember — that the paintbrush is stolen and it’s using stolen pigments to spit out a product that, at the end of the day, will cut human jobs and make rich people even richer. And that’s not even getting into the whole environmental catastrophe of it all.
pretty telling that the industries first venture into this was to create a teenage girl they could control https://t.co/8d4Rf3PAQP
— Michael’s #2 Italian Restaurant 🤌 (@myitalianhell) September 29, 2025
Again, WHY do all AI “personalities” look like they are 16?
I mean, I know the answer, but let’s just sit with it.
People need to stop accepting any garbage shoved down their throat by amoral, rapacious companies out to get rich(er). What you consume does matter. It needs to be blocked, shamed and rejected before it takes over what’s left of actual reality.
The comments are everything! The “booooo! tomato tomato!” took me out. In all seriousness, though, this is happening, whether we want it to or not. Corporate greed is winning in this country, and it’s only a matter of time before Cheetolini signs an executive order banning any laws pertaining to usage of AI. Then the studios will absolutely replace human actors (who they have to pay) with AI “actors”.
Don’t give up! “It’s happening, whether we want it to or not” is AI propaganda! Fight back!
One great way to start is to use Duckduckgo as your browser, and NOT Google. It has a function that separates out AI content and it’s pretty good.
I recently got rid of Microsoft Office because I fucking hated the AI assistant and now I use open source software and it’s way better and free!!
If you don’t like AI – don’t watch it! Walk away from the computer! Go outside! Read a real book! Cook a recipe from a cookbook! Experience what you know to be real!
As much as the techbros may want to, they don’t dictate how you or I spend our time.
I use duckduckgo on my phone, but don’t want another app on my desktop, so I make a point of squinting when I use Google to scroll down past their AI bullsh*t.
Well if no one is watching the content with AI performers, it’s certainly not happening “whether we want it or not”.
We have the power, boycotting works. Let’s not be complacent
Tilly Norwood isn’t human
Another question: how much electricity does it cost to generate this AI scam, and how much does it cost? We’re at a point where the data centers to generate AI are using enormous quantities of water and electricity, and in the midst of climate change too. Why create this nonsense when there are real actors?
I really hope whatever agency, dumb enough to represent this, is gonna get dumped by all the big name actors / actresses signed to them. Let them create a movie full of AI actors / actresses and see if anyone is gonna pay for it.
The data center extreme electricity + water usage is going to become an issue, but laws regarding this will come too late. Average people’s electric bills skyrocketing + wells drying up, etc.
Like any corporation that mines energy (coal, gas, minerals, etc) the owners will just bribe politicians to let it be ignored.
What terrible coincidence that this is booming during this administration. ( I do wonder if it is purely coincidence?! )