This is NOT what AI should be used for. Meet Tilly Norwood.
I’ll say it again: I want AI to do all the things I don’t want to do so I’m freed up to do things I want to do. I also don’t want my livelihood and career by something synthetic and fake that exists only because it has been trained on the work and talents of countless human beings.
When Hollywood writers went on strike for five months in 2023, one of their big concerns was studios would replace them with AI. When actors joined in solidarity, they probably weren’t thinking that they’d be replaced by AI anytime soon. They were wrong.
Meet Tilly Norwood, the product of a new company called Xicoia, which refers to itself as an “AI talent studio.” She–it–and their ilk is designed to be used in place of flesh-and-blood actors in movies, TV, games, podcasts, and social media.
The founder of the company is Eline Van Der Elden. She says “AI-driven talent isn’t just a gimmick – it’s living, performing IP with depth, humour and narrative arcs. We believe the next generation of cultural icons will be synthetic – stars that never tire, never age and can interact with fans.”
Jeezus.
Xicoia will officially launch this weekend at the Zurich Summit Conference, an even that will focus on the creation of “AI talent” for use in anything that a real human does now. And these avatars will be able to interact with fans. Deadline reports this:
“Xicoia’s AI characters are developed with complete backstories, distinct voices, evolving narrative arcs and fully realized personalities. The characters can engage in unscripted conversations, perform monologues, respond to trends in real time and adapt tone and references to suit platform-specific audiences. They will operate on a hybrid model of human creative oversight and autonomous AI responsiveness, ensuring cultural relevance and brand safety while maintaining creative ambition.”
Xicoia is already working with “several Hollywood stars who wish to appear on screen as their younger or current selves.” The company wants to expand its offerings to as many as 40 AI personalities of all sorts.
More from Van Der Helden: “We’re standing at the dawn of a new category – AI-powered celebrity IP. Xicoia’s mission is to shape it, own it and set the creative standard. Just as the 20th century was defined by the rise of film stars and pop icons, we believe the 21st will be defined by synthetic talent.
Actors are outraged at the concept--as they should be. Think about how many young female actors were used without their permission to feed the model–known as DeepFame–to create Tilly Norwood. The Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA is also freaking out–as it should be.
Van Der Helden posted this on Tilly’s Instagram account.
Ever get the feeling that we’re all screwed?
