Meet Tilly Norwood: She’s Not Art, She Is Data.

The risk technology poses to human creative expression advanced another step in recent days through the introduction of this AI-generated actress, the inaugural fully AI-created actor. Unsurprisingly, her unveiling at the Zurich film festival in a comic sketch called AI Commissioner provoked strong reactions. The film was called “terrifying” by Emily Blunt and the actors’ union Sag-Aftra condemned it for “endangering actors' incomes and undermining human artistic value”.

Many concerns arise with Norwood, especially the signal her “approachable” persona sends to female youth. Yet the graver concern is the construction of her face using real actors' likenesses without their knowledge or consent. Her cheerful introduction conceals the reality that she is part of a new model of media production that rides roughshod over longstanding norms and laws governing artists and their work.

Tinseltown has foreseen Norwood's debut for years. Movies like the 2002 science fiction film Simone, centered on a filmmaker crafting a flawless actress via computer, and 2013’s The Congress, in which an ageing star is digitally scanned by her studio, turned out to be incredibly forward-thinking. Last year's shocker The Substance, featuring Demi Moore as a declining famous person who creates a younger replica, likewise mocked the film world's fixation on youth and attractiveness. Now, Victor Frankenstein-like, the film world is staring the “perfect actress” in the face.

The maker of Norwood, performer and author Eline Van der Velden defended her as “not a replacement for a human being”, instead “a work of art”, characterizing artificial intelligence as a novel tool, akin to painting equipment. According to its advocates, AI will democratise film, as all individuals can create films without major studio backing.

Starting with the Gutenberg press through sound films and television, all creative revolutions have been feared and reviled. The visual effects Oscar hasn't always existed, of course. Plus, AI is already integrated into cinema, especially in animation and sci-fi genres. Two of last year’s Oscar-winning films – The Brutalist and Emilia Perez – utilized artificial intelligence to refine voices. Deceased performers such as Carrie Fisher have been revived for after-death appearances.

But while some welcome such possibilities, as well as the prospect of AI actors slashing production costs by 90%, employees in the cinematic field are rightly concerned. The 2023 Hollywood writers’ strike resulted in a partial victory against the use of AI. And while A-listers’ views on Norwood have been widely reported, once again, it's the lesser-known workers whose positions are most threatened – supporting and voice artists, beauticians and production staff.

AI actors are an inevitable product of a culture awash with social media slop, cosmetic surgery and fakery. As yet, Norwood can’t act or interact. She can’t empathise, because, it hardly needs to be said, she is not a person. She isn't “art” as well; she is pure information. Real cinematic magic comes from human interaction, and that is impossible to fabricate artificially. We view movies to observe actual individuals in authentic settings, experiencing genuine feelings. We don't desire flawless atmospheres.

However, although alerts that Norwood poses a wide-eyed danger to cinema may be overblown, at least for the moment, that doesn’t mean there is nothing to fear. Laws are sluggish and awkward, while technology advances dizzyingly fast. Additional actions are required to safeguard actors and production teams, and the value of human creativity.