New AI actress Tilly Norwood is cause for concern in the artist industry

Upcoming AI actress Tilly Norwood shares on her Instagram some of her fully AI generated new stills from the acting test performed by Particle6. Photo courtesy of Particle6 and the Tilly Norwood Instagram page.

Sitting comfortably in the theater seat, laying back ready to watch the latest action movie, and observing the opening scene of this ‘revolutionary' film. Shocked, one of the main characters’ face twitches and freezes. The rise of AI implementation in artistic media has reached the big screens.

Founder of Particle6, a production studio that uses AI implementation in film production for cheaper and effective results, Eline Van Der Velden, shocked many with the introduction of an AI generated “actress” named Tilly Norwood. Norwood’s first introduction to the “real world” occurred on September 27th, 2025, at the Zurich Film Festival, according to The Cornell Daily Sun. The appearance of this AI “actress”, worried many and prompted some to question whether this “actress” would negatively impact actors and actresses in the film industry.

Although, in an Instagram post on Norwood's account, Van Der Velden addressed the controversy over the AI “actress” in a brief statement, clarifying that, “To those who have expressed anger over the creation of our AI character, Tilly Norwood: she is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work-a piece of art.”

AI has been a topic of debate among the artist community, many believe that AI art is actual art and should be treated like it because it stems from creativity; however, most artists argue that AI  art cannot be categorized with the art made by humans who create art by using their lives as muses and inspirations.

Similarly, not many in the film industry agreed with Van Der Velden’s statement, some taking to social media to express their displeasure with the AI generated “actress”. According to Vanity Fair, American director Reed Morano commented by saying “An AI actor has no life experience and no amount of clever prompts can replicate the effect of true humanity and soul.”

The distinction between humanity and AI has become apparent for both sides of this situation, Van Der Velden mentioned that she doesn’t believe that AI is a replacement for humans, but rather it is a tool for people to use, even comparing it to CGI and animation. But a question many ask is how the AI actress will have autonomy of what roles she portrays? What will stop people from portraying the actress in compromising roles? Many actors choose their roles based on how well they think they can portray the character, the actors revolve their lives around their new roles, playing characters and embodying their new lives. But with the click of a button, people can generate a new movie scene, getting rid of the months of work that actors put into their roles. It gets rid of the hard work in the name of efficiency and cutting corners.