SAG-AFTRA Condems AI “Actress” Tilly Norwood In Official Statement: “Not An Actor…It Has No Life Experience to Draw From, No Emotion”

The push toward the use of artificial intelligence in the film and television industry is extremely dangerous for the human side of things, and the latest insult to working human actors was the recent promotion by Hollywood trades of an “AI actress” named Tilly Norwood, a flat digital construct (looks like any other fake human AI creates) that is being presented to the public as a technological advancement with a fake “contract signging” announcement (for AI “talent studio” Xicoia) coming out of the Zurich Film Festival, in attempt to legitmaize the idea of digital actors.

This was seen by many as an anti-art red flag toward the removal of human actors for cheaper digital alternatives, and a grim look at what could be coming in the future.

There is now a response from one of the biggest Hollywood unions, as SAG-AFTRA said in the following statement from their official website:

“SAG-AFTRA believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered. The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.”

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“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. 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.”

“Additionally, 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.”

That said, it is sort of obvious what the tech reasoning is here; with AI “actors,” studios and corporations won’t have to worry about things like scheduling, salaries, and royalties when it comes to AI constructs imitating human actors. Ultimately, what we’ve seen from the corporate interest in AI has been how to cut costs or cut the labor/creative manpower needed to craft movies and shows, not so much trying to make BETTER stories, but finding ways to spend less on them. Also, maybe advancing technology to remove actors, writers, and directors from the creative process isn’t the smartest way to go, as it signals anti-art disdain.

We saw AI being a subject in the last round of actor and writers’ strikes, as studios were looking to do digital scans of actors regularly, and the idea that extras/background actors potentially being entirely phased out by these digital copies (we’ve seen some of these creepy digital constructs employed as background extras during productions impacted by COVID-19 and stick out like a sore thumb).

SAG-AFTRA adding to the growing backlash of Tilly Norwood is certainly a great sign that the industry isn’t going to keep quiet with the looming embrace of AI “actors.”