AI 'actor' Tilly Norwood to star in a feature film after SAG-AFTRA backlash
Overview & Key Takeaways
The AI-generated "actor" Tilly Norwood will debut in the feature film Misaligned about an AI's existensial crisis.
Last fall, AI "talent" studio Xicoia unveiled Tilly Norwood to the world, an AI-generated "actor" that quickly drew the ire of the actors' union SAG-AFTRA. In response to all that backlash, Xicoia and its founder Eline van der Velden made a single and a music video for Norwood championing AI. It's not very good.
Norwood won't be stopped, however, whether you want AI-generated movies or not. Van der Velden’s AI production company Particle 6 is developing the movie Misaligned that will "star" the AI-generated code that is Norwood. It will reportedly be a "hybrid production" with actual directors, editors, writers, and more working with AI specialists.
Misaligned is a "coming-of-age" dramedy centered around "existential AI chaos." Norwood, existing in some sort of digital world, has no real body or lived experiences, but somehow has access to others' experiences. Chaos ensues when a "seductive rogue bot from the dark web convinces her to abandon her guardrails and begin developing desires, impulses and ambitions of her own," according to the film's synopsis.
Norwood "develop[s] shame that her very being has been built on the whole of humanity" and, yep, plenty of generative AI is built on the stolen work of others. At least Particle 6 and van der Velden understand this, though don't be surprised when Misaligned's message ends up being very pro-AI. This is the same "actor" whose single includes the lyrics "It’s the next evolution, can't you see? / AI’s not the enemy, it’s the key."
Van der Velden has been consistent in her message that AI like Norwood is the future of entertainment. She wants "to show the creative industry what is possible with AI at any one point in time" (via Deadline). "We remain passionate about helping people develop AI skills that will ensure they – and the industry – continue to thrive."
Meanwhile, plenty of people are ready for the generative-AI bubble to burst. AI is taking over search engines, despite being unreliable; it's expensive, even by movie-making standards; AI data centers are sucking up more water than you think; and AI is partly to blame for why video game consoles are getting more expensive.
But at least you'll soon be able to watch a movie starring AI-generated code instead of one of the many great films already available about AI, like Ex Machina, Companion, or Her.
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