AI-generated actor sparks outrage in Hollywood, as creator seeks representation

[Brian in Mesa]

AI-generated actor sparks outrage in Hollywood, as creator seeks representation

AI-generated actor sparks outrage in Hollywood, as creator seeks representation

Dutch producer pitches her AI creation, Tilly Norwood, as the next Scarlet Johansson, and says several agents are vying to represent it.

www.cbsnews.com

Like thousands of actors, Tilly Norwood is looking for a Hollywood agent. Her greatest role? Pretending to be human.

That's because Tilly Norwood is a 100% AI-generated product, created by Dutch producer and comedian Eline Van der Velden, founder of a company named Xicoia, which bills itself as the world's first artificial intelligence talent studio. Velden pitches her AI creation as the next Scarlet Johansson, and says there are several agents vying to represent it, CBS News' Jo Ling Kent reported recently.

Since Velden launched the digital character's prospective career, Tilly Norwood has been all the talk in Hollywood.

But not in a good way. Guilds, actors and filmmakers have met the Xicoia product with an immediate wave of backlash, protesting that artificial intelligence should not have a starring role in the acting profession. In a statement Tuesday, the Screen Actors Guild said that "creativity is, and should remain, human-centered."

"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," the guild said. "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."

Actor Sean Aston, who starred in "Lord of the Rings" and "The Goonies," and was recently elected president of sag AFTRA, emphasized how AI Tilly Norwood is an artificial construct.

"You're made up of stuff that doesn't belong to you," he told CBS News. "Let's just make sure that credit is given where credit is due."

Van der Velden, who is also the founder of the AI production studio Particle6, promoted Tilly Norwood last month at the Zurich Summit, the industry sidebar of the Zurich Film Festival. It was there that she said talent agencies were circling Norwood and that she expected to soon announce a signing.

Many in Hollywood hope that never happens.

"Any talent agency that engages in this should be boycotted by all guilds," wrote Natasha Lyonne on Instagram. The "Russian Doll" star is directing a feature titled "Uncanny Valley" that pledges to use "ethical" artificial intelligence in combination with traditional filmmaking techniques. "Deeply misguided & totally disturbed," she added. "Not the way. Not the vibe. Not the use."

 

[Brian in Mesa]

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[Stout]

For anyone that isn't familiar with the major problems of AI, I'll give you two:

1--It's pure theft of intellectual property. No one, in the AI industry or those who use and/or view it, can argue differently.
2--It's CRUSHING the energy industry in the U.S. It's a massive energy cost and those costs are passed on to the taxpayer.

That isn't to say AI has no place in the world. The above examples I gave cover my feelings on AI in arts, literature, movies, etc. There are other valid applications of the tech.

 

[oaken1]

For anyone that isn't familiar with the major problems of AI, I'll give you two:

1--It's pure theft of intellectual property. No one, in the AI industry or those who use and/or view it, can argue differently.
2--It's CRUSHING the energy industry in the U.S. It's a massive energy cost and those costs are passed on to the taxpayer.

That isn't to say AI has no place in the world. The above examples I gave cover my feelings on AI in arts, literature, movies, etc. There are other valid applications of the tech.

So it's okay for AI to take a data analysts job but not an actors job?

 

[Stout]

So it's okay for AI to take a data analysts job but not an actors job?

Big difference. It's not about the displacement of actors; it's the fact that it's the actors' images, likenesses, voice, etc, that are being illegally ripped off to create AI actors to replace them. Data analysts aren't having their personal information stolen to replace them. That's just a matter of technology doing it's thing in the work place.

 

[oaken1]

Big difference. It's not about the displacement of actors; it's the fact that it's the actors' images, likenesses, voice, etc, that are being illegally ripped off to create AI actors to replace them. Data analysts aren't having their personal information stolen to replace them. That's just a matter of technology doing it's thing in the work place.

bull hockey..actors imitate each other..get "Inspiration" from each other...even flat out copy each other...some acting schools teach "Shatnerian"...its an entire career of copying and imitating others....pure make believe and they are never the first ones to fake whatever they are faking...not a single molecule of originality in the entire industry....and the AI actress has her very own unique image and voice.
which cant be said for hollywood actors and the 8 surgeries and ten pounds of crafting putty they splatter on their faces before going out in public.

as a writer, I can understand having issues with people using AI to produce stories...but even in the written word AI is rapidly closing the gap between obviously generated material and legit organic creations...

it is what it is. It started way back when they first laid off Tommy Jones because the new robo welder fit fender braces faster than he did..
we, as human animals, are going obsolete...people call it progress and support it until it starts hitting close to home...but we are only a couple decades away from a live person not being able to get any job at all outside software fields.

wanna fight against it?? Do as I do,...rrefuse to use the self checkout line at Walmart or the grocery store...it costs people jobs. But its happening. there is no stopping it.

oh, and you may as well start calling her "she"...she identifies as female......

 

[Stout]

bull hockey..actors imitate each other..get "Inspiration" from each other...even flat out copy each other...some acting schools teach "Shatnerian"...its an entire career of copying and imitating others....pure make believe and they are never the first ones to fake whatever they are faking...not a single molecule of originality in the entire industry....and the AI actress has her very own unique image and voice.
which cant be said for hollywood actors and the 8 surgeries and ten pounds of crafting putty they splatter on their faces before going out in public.

as a writer, I can understand having issues with people using AI to produce stories...but even in the written word AI is rapidly closing the gap between obviously generated material and legit organic creations...

it is what it is. It started way back when they first laid off Tommy Jones because the new robo welder fit fender braces faster than he did..
we, as human animals, are going obsolete...people call it progress and support it until it starts hitting close to home...but we are only a couple decades away from a live person not being able to get any job at all outside software fields.

wanna fight against it?? Do as I do,...rrefuse to use the self checkout line at Walmart or the grocery store...it costs people jobs. But its happening. there is no stopping it.

oh, and you may as well start calling her "she"...she identifies as female......

Yeah, no.

 

[oaken1]

Yeah, no.

No??
You are going to deny her the choice of her own pronouns?
Deny her the chance to express herself through her chosen form of art?

Republican!!

 

[Stout]

No??
You are going to deny her the choice of her own pronouns?
Deny her the chance to express herself through her chosen form of art?

Republican!!

#1: If you ever call me that again, I will put you on ignore. I'm not joking. That's disgusting.

#2: You're talking about a computer program, not a person.

 

[oaken1]

#1: If you ever call me that again, I will put you on ignore. I'm not joking. That's disgusting.

#2: You're talking about a computer program, not a person.

Its only a matter of time before synthetics fight for all the rights and privileges anybody else has...why delay the inevitable?

 

[oaken1]

#1: If you ever call me that again, I will put you on ignore. I'm not joking. That's disgusting.

#2: You're talking about a computer program, not a person.

Its only a matter of time before synthetics fight for all the rights and privileges anybody else has...why delay the inevitable?

 

[Dan H]

I wonder if actors had the same concerns about animation. Interesting times to be sure.

 

[Devilmaycare]

No??
You are going to deny her the choice of her own pronouns?
Deny her the chance to express herself through her chosen form of art?

Republican!!

No more of this. Political comments need to stay in P&R. If you want to make them then let me know and I'll let you back into it.

 

[oaken1]

No more of this. Political comments need to stay in P&R. If you want to make them then let me know and I'll let you back into it.

we have that?? I thought they killed it a few months ago?

 

[Devilmaycare]

we have that?? I thought they killed it a few months ago?

It was closed for about a month but opened back up in August. It's why you have your self imposed ban from it still. If you ever want back in just let @jf-08 or myself know.

 

[Rivercard]

I wonder if actors had the same concerns about animation.

AI seems more personal and threatening than animation, but maybe that's just because it's the time we live in now. Plus it took a large team of humans to create animation back then, but interesting question for sure.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

I wonder if actors had the same concerns about animation. Interesting times to be sure.

Animation didn't replace actors. It gave them a new line of work as voice actors.

 

[oaken1]

Right?? Besides, bugs and Daffy had WB locked up... and nobody was moving in on Mickey and the gang at Disney...they had an entire industry to themselves...made Mel Blanc filthy rich...

But they never threatened Hudson, Garbo, or stallone...they stayed in their lane.


but i support AI actors...its actually the programmer and AI teacher doing the work...
i would be interested in seeing a live action movie using 100% AI actors...see how it comes out...

as far as co starring it cant be that much different than making Roger Rabbit

Animation didn't replace actors. It gave them a new line of work as voice actors.

 

[Stout]

Right?? Besides, bugs and Daffy had WB locked up... and nobody was moving in on Mickey and the gang at Disney...they had an entire industry to themselves...made Mel Blanc filthy rich...

But they never threatened Hudson, Garbo, or stallone...they stayed in their lane.


but i support AI actors...its actually the programmer and AI teacher doing the work...
i would be interested in seeing a live action movie using 100% AI actors...see how it comes out...

as far as co starring it cant be that much different than making Roger Rabbit

What TF do you think the AI teacher is? JFC

@Chaplin @Cheesebeef can you guys chime in on this topic?

 

[oaken1]

What TF do you think the AI teacher is? JFC

@Chaplin @Cheesebeef can you guys chime in on this topic?

The AI teacher is the person who spends hours upon hours inputting various scenarios and stimuli and teaching the bot the proper responses...then modifies the stimuli to see if they illicit a similar response...
They are not the programmers however...as they don't get too deep into coding...
The programmer teaches the bot how to learn...the AI teacher teaches the bot how to respond to stimuli


Then I suppose somebody will have to teach the bot how to act...they are at a disadvantage when it comes to physical attraction so they will have to be extra on point in the skills department

 

[Chaplin]

AI Actors are an abomination. That's it.

 

[oaken1]

AI Actors are an abomination. That's it.

Like self driving cars

 

[Chaplin]

Like self driving cars

It's nothing like that.

 

[oaken1]

It's nothing like that.

It's exactly like that...
Or.....

Explain, how is it different?

 

[Chaplin]

It's exactly like that...
Or.....

Explain, how is it different?

I shouldn't have to explain it to you, this is basic knowledge.

It's not exactly like that. You seem to not have any idea of what a creative industry is.

You want to see a live action movie populated entirely by AI? What a warped mindset. That is money going straight to the studio bureaucracy -- with zero nuance. Creativity shouldn't be pre-empted with a robot. AI actors are INTENDED to replace people like Gosling, Streep and De Niro. Not Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse. Do you think a screenplay should be written by AI? I know at least a few screenwriters that would be against it...