Particle6, the London-based company behind AI character Tilly Norwood, has released a music video in which Norwood sings “AI’s not the enemy, it’s the key” – a direct response to the backlash that followed her debut last year.
The video, titled “Take the Lead,” shows Norwood on London rooftops, on chat show sofas, performing in stadiums and generally inhabiting the life of an A-list celebrity, before taking a surrealist turn involving flamingoes, a Tilly-branded aircraft and flying dolphins. It is not subtle.
The production opened with a disclaimer crediting 18 humans – roles including executive producer, director, production designer, costume designer, creative prompter, creative technologist, comedy writer and actor. Particle6 founder Eline van der Velden performed the motion capture underlying Norwood’s movements.
The disclaimer is doing a lot of work. Particle6 needs to demonstrate that Tilly is the product of creative labour, not a prompt-and-publish exercise, while simultaneously arguing that the technology she represents should be embraced by the industry. Whether those two positions are compatible is the question the video conspicuously declines to answer.
SAG-AFTRA has maintained that Norwood “is not an actor” and that her creation was trained on the work of countless professional performers without permission or compensation. Audience response to the video has been largely hostile, with viewers describing the production as AI propaganda. Particle6 says the video is a precursor to Norwood’s official acting debut later this year and offers a first glimpse into the “Tillyverse” – a cloud-based entertainment world where AI characters will, in the company’s framing, live, interact and work.
Particle6’s timing – releasing a promotional piece the week of the Oscars and during active union negotiations – will not have been accidental.
