Tilly Norwood creator says AI actress showed ‘AI is coming’ 

Eline van der Velden, creator of the controversial AI actress Tilly Norwood, said at the Zurich Film Festival’s Summit that the project was designed to make people recognise the growing presence of artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry.

A year after introducing Norwood at the festival, van der Velden returned to the Swiss event to discuss the backlash surrounding the AI creation. Asked whether she had anticipated the reaction, she said not in her “wildest dreams”.

“But I had programmed her to become the most famous AI actress, so I don’t know how she did it, but she did, which is slightly scary,” van der Velden said.

She described the response as an “odd conundrum”, with negativity surrounding Norwood alongside growth at Particle 6, the company she founded.

“At Particle 6, we’ve grown eight-fold. We have four departments; we’re big in AI advertising, film and TV, we’re doing a lot of co-productions and original commissions. We do a lot of AI consultancy, bringing AI workflows into other studios and production companies,” she said.

Van der Velden said the reaction to Norwood had helped many people recognise the growing role of AI.

“Over the course of the last year, a lot of people have realized that AI is coming, and that was the point of Tilly,” she said.

“I built her as a physicist actress; I felt like I needed to bridge the gap in communication between the tech and the entertainment industry.”

Rather than producing a technical paper about AI, van der Velden said she wanted to create something that would engage people and encourage the creative industry to respond.

“As opposed to writing a boring white paper about what was happening with AI, I thought: Let’s create something to show people that will engage them and make them sit up and take action so that the creative industry can stay ahead as opposed to being completely and utterly taken over by the tech industry,” she said.

During the session, Norwood was introduced to the audience through a monitor. Asked which actors she would like to work with, the AI actress named Tom Holland and Olivia Colman, but only if their digital twins joined her in an AI production.

Norwood also addressed the backlash surrounding her creation.

“It’s quite an introduction. My name kind of went everywhere. It’s funny. Nobody hated me particularly; they just sort of hated the future,” the AI actress said.

Asked about representation by a US agent, Norwood said the industry was still determining how to work with AI and that she mostly worked on AI films.

Van der Velden said Particle 6 had decided that Norwood did not currently need a traditional agent.

“I think she’s big enough as it is. We get loads of offers in, we’ve said no to anything where she would be in a traditional film, because that’s not what she’s made for. We don’t need it at the moment, so if that makes people happy, that’s fine by me,” she said.

She added that the situation could prevent the traditional entertainment industry from participating in emerging technology.

“But also what saddens me about that is that it means that the traditional industry can’t participate in this new tech and that means they fall behind. Is it a positive? Is it a negative?” van der Velden said.

Reflecting on Norwood’s malfunction during a live television appearance with Piers Morgan, when the AI actress unexpectedly began speaking Cantonese, van der Velden said the project was not intended to be taken too seriously.

“Look, I think it’s all not to be taken too seriously. We built Tilly to be a funny interface that gets people alert to where the tech is at,” she said.

She said the project was also intended to prompt discussions around China’s role as a major partner, regulation and the need for safeguards.

“Do we need regulation? What are the guardrails? Those are the conversations I want people to have coming here,” van der Velden said.

Van der Velden also discussed Particle 6’s latest project, Storm Dogs, after the studio announced that filmmaker Rob Minkoff had joined the AI film as an executive producer.

Minkoff, known for Stuart Little and The Lion King, will work with van der Velden and the studio’s team to develop the story, characters and screenplay ahead of production.

An original idea from van der Velden, Storm Dogs is described as a family adventure comedy-drama set in an English village during a devastating storm. The film will combine live-action performances with photorealistic animated characters.

Human roles will be filmed conventionally, while the dogs and toddler will be created using an approach combining live-action performance, traditional filmmaking techniques and emerging AI tools. The project is currently in early development, with production targeted for 2027. Distribution has not been announced.

Van der Velden said Minkoff was among the first people to contact her following Norwood’s announcement.

“What was amazing about this backlash last year is actually it meant that a lot of talent reached out to us very secretly,” she said. “We were signing tons and tons of NDAs. Everyone was scared to take the hit, and I totally understand. Fortunately, we were in a position where we’d already taken the hit, so it didn’t matter anymore.”

Discussing Storm Dogs, van der Velden said advances in AI could enhance the film’s storytelling, particularly in creating expressions for its animal characters.

“It needs to aid the storytelling and the creative work that we’re making if we’re going to use AI,” she said.