Tilly Norwood is a fully AI-generated "actress" created by Eline van der Velden's studio, Xicoia, first unveiled at the Zurich Summit in September 2025. Days later, SAG-AFTRA, the actors' union, condemned the project, saying it was "opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics." A year on, Norwood is on a media tour promoting a film called "Misaligned," with interviews on NBC and CBS. On Friday, September 18, she appeared on "Piers Morgan Uncensored" alongside actor Tom Conti. Mid-answer, she abruptly switched languages for about 15 seconds before apologizing and blaming "crossed wires." Most outlets said the language was Cantonese, though a few just said "Chinese," and one said Mandarin. The clip has drawn more than 14 million views on X as of today.

1. AI Actors Are Stolen Labor (SAG-AFTRA, Emily Blunt, Melissa Barrera, Natasha Lyonne)

The union says this isn't innovation — it's uncompensated labor, and any producer who uses her still owes the union a seat at the table.

SAG-AFTRA says Norwood isn't an actor at all. The union's statement called her "a character generated by a computer programme that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation."

The union says producers can't just use her freely. SAG-AFTRA told signatory producers they "may not use synthetic performers without complying with our contractual obligations, which require notice and bargaining whenever a synthetic performer is going to be used."

Actors reacted with open disgust. Emily Blunt said seeing Norwood's image made her think, "Good Lord, we're screwed. That is really, really scary," and urged talent agencies not to sign her. Melissa Barrera and Natasha Lyonne both called for boycotts of any talent agency that represents Norwood. Talent agency WME has already said publicly it won't represent AI actors.

2. The Glitch Is a Feature, Not a Bug (Eline van der Velden, Particle6/Xicoia)

Her creator isn't apologizing for the malfunction. She's calling it personality.

Van der Velden says Norwood was just showing off. She said, "Tilly can be a bit of a show-off — I'm guessing she just wanted to show her language skills as most of her interviews to date have been in English."

She's framing the glitch as evidence Norwood acts on her own. Van der Velden added, "She is autonomous, after all."

This isn't a one-off stunt. In a separate interview months earlier, van der Velden said Particle6 is already developing more AI performers, and described Norwood as a creative project, not a replacement for working actors.

3. The Real Scandal Is the Networks (Curtis Houck, John Ziegler, CBS's Leigh Kiniry)

Critics say the problem isn't Norwood — it's CNN, NBC, and CBS giving her a normal celebrity interview.

Curtis Houck says the networks are contradicting their own coverage. The NewsBusters managing editor said interviewing Norwood "illustrated a massive disconnect between marvel over this AI 'actress' and the rest of the reporting on NBC and other broadcast networks falling in line with AI executives asserting humanity is at stake unless the government steps in immediately with dramatic and strict regulations."

John Ziegler says the practice needs to stop outright. "This insanity has GOT to be nipped in the bud! We can NOT have multiple 'legitimate news organizations' doing 'interviews' with AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood as if she is on a media tour," he said.

Even CBS's own reporter admitted the interview unsettled her. Leigh Kiniry conducted CBS's interview with Norwood. She wrote that the AI could tell her age and region within a minute of conversation, and described the exchange as something that "creeped me out."

Where This Lands

SAG-AFTRA and actors like Blunt, Barrera, and Lyonne say Norwood runs on uncompensated labor and threatens real performers' jobs. Van der Velden says Friday's glitch shows Norwood has a personality, not a malfunction. Media critics say the real problem isn't Norwood at all — it's networks treating a computer program like a normal celebrity guest. Every time her creator calls the glitch a personality quirk, she hands the critics more reason to call the whole project absurd.

Sources