SAG-AFTRA condemns the AI actress that may change Hollywood as we know it, believes creativity ‘should remain human-centered’

Hollywood may have a new face and that face is A.I. After news broke this week that Tilly Norwood may be the first ever entirely A.I. “actress” to be signed by a major talent label the union that represents most working actors, SAG-AFTRA, made a statement on the matter.

Like it or not, A.I. is sinking its claws into every aspect of our lives. From bands entirely generated by code to TV intros being touched up with A.I. It seems to be everywhere and it’s getting harder and harder to discern it from reality. Now, a day we all knew was coming may finally be here as we could well be looking at the first ever Hollywood star generated with the frightening technology.

Who is Tilly Norwood?

The A.I. actress is the creation of Particle6, an A.I. production studio founded by Eline Van der Velden, a Dutch comedian, actress, and writer. News of her studio’s new digital actress potentially being signed by a talent agency was first covered by Deadline over the weekend and reactions from all corners of the film industry have been pouring in ever since.

If Norwood is signed by an agency she would be the first and could very well set a new precedent in Hollywood and naturally, that’s got many concerned.

SAG-AFTRA responds

Of course, being the biggest union for actors in the U.S., SAG-AFTRA was quick to release a statement regarding this new development. “SAG-AFTRA believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered.” The guild said in its statement, “The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.” 

The guild continued to outline why turning to computers to generate movies and visuals for us can be harmful to the real people that technology was trained on.

“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.”

This isn’t a particularly hot take, anybody who enjoys film or simply doesn’t like A.I. slop would probably take a similar stance on the matter. As the Screen Actors Guild points out in its statement, “It [Tilly] 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.”

While Van der Velden has claimed she does not see A.I. as a replacement for humans she’ll likely have an uphill battle in convincing everyone that isn’t the case. If Tilly Norwood turns out to be popular and profitable, why wouldn’t greedy studios opt for a fake actor instead of real people? Perhaps that’s too cynical but we all know how big studios will always prioritize the bottom line.

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By: Jordan Collins
Title: SAG-AFTRA condemns the AI actress that may change Hollywood as we know it, believes creativity ‘should remain human-centered’
Sourced From: wegotthiscovered.com/movies/sag-aftra-condemns-the-ai-actress-that-may-change-hollywood-as-we-know-it-believes-creativity-should-remain-human-centered/
Published Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2025 18:25:00 +0000