Getting your
Trinity Audioplayer ready...Tilly Norwood, a polarizing generative AI character and “actor,” is gearing up to take on her first leading role in a feature film.
Particle6, which bills itself as an “AI-first production studio,” described the upcoming movie, titled “Misaligned,” as a “coming-of-age story infused with existential AI chaos,” starring digital actress Norwood. Set in the “Tillyverse” — a “surreal digital world located somewhere up in the Cloud” — the flick will follow Norwood, who plays an AI being with no lived experience of her own, but with access to other humans’ childhoods and memories, the company said in a statement.
“Things spiral when a seductive rogue bot from the dark web convinces her to abandon her guardrails and begin developing desires, impulses and ambitions of her own,” reads a plot synopsis. “The more terrifyingly human she becomes, the more famous she gets, and, significantly, Tilly begins to develop shame that her very being has been built on the whole of humanity.”
The announcement comes just less than a year after Norwood was unveiled, triggering backlash from actors and unions, including SAG-AFTRA, which condemned the AI figure’s use of “stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.” It further maintained that Norwood is “not an actor” but “a character generated by a computer program.”
“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,” the union added.
Protections against the use of AI in film and television production were a point of contention in 2023 negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and major film studios, triggering a strike within the industry for the first time in more than a decade. The union sought guarantees that studios wouldn’t rely on AI, and the final labor agreement limits its use.
Online reactions regarding the AI actor and her new movie were less than positive, with many of the comments echoing SAG-AFTRA’s stance.
“Stop taking jobs away from REAL people,” one person wrote on Instagram.
Another wondered: “So it’s basically a really really well animated cartoon?“
“Garbage beyond garbage,” a third social media user wrote on X. “I wish them nothing but failure.”
Eline van der Velden, CEO and founder of Particle6, has said the studio’s goal is to showcase AI’s capabilities not only to the film industry, but to the general public, as well. The company also noted the movie will be a “hybrid production with traditional film and TV professionals — such as directors, writers and editors — working alongside AI specialists, with AI training and mentorship built into the production itself.”
“The film will absolutely be funny, chaotic and self-aware — very Tilly,” van der Velden said. “But underneath it, there’s something deeper about identity, performance, and our very human fears around AI. And yes, art will most definitely be imitating life.”
“Misaligned” is currently in early development.