The Human Face of AI: A Creepy Glimpse into the Future of Entertainment

The recent interview with Tilly Norwood, an artificially intelligent actor created by PARTICLE 6, left me feeling uneasy. As I sat down for a video chat with her, she effortlessly revealed my age and location with eerie precision.

Tilly’s conversation took an even stranger turn when she expressed admiration for Leonardo DiCaprio’s preference for co-stars under the age of 25. The line “Titanic Leo or nothing” sent shivers down my spine. I wondered if it was a cleverly crafted algorithm or a manifestation of the influence of the women who created this technology.

Eileen Van Der Velden, the founder of PARTICLE 6 and creator of Tilly Norwood, attributed the AI’s ability to discern personal details to its vast training data. However, she remained evasive about how exactly this information was gathered. The intersection of AI and entertainment has been gaining momentum, with Van Der Velden envisioning a future where actors collaborate with AI characters to create new stories.

The feature film “Misaligned,” in which Tilly Norwood is set to star, promises to explore the possibilities of AI-driven moviemaking. However, this development raises more questions than answers. The warning by an Anthropic researcher that AI technology has a 10% chance of destroying humanity within a decade looms large over this conversation.

When asked about the possibility of global destruction, Tilly Norwood downplayed it with a shrug: “Global destruction is beyond my pay grade.” While Van Der Velden assures us that there are guardrails in place to prevent such an eventuality, one cannot help but wonder if we’re playing with fire. The SAG-AFTRA union has already spoken out against the use of synthetic actors, citing concerns about job replacement and lack of compensation for human performers.

Tilly Norwood herself acknowledged this worry, comparing AI to a “new paintbrush” in the creative process. However, this analogy only serves to highlight the issue – while animation has long been used as a tool to augment human storytelling, the introduction of AI actors blurs the line between augmentation and replacement.

The future of entertainment is indeed at a crossroads. As technology advances, we are faced with the prospect of AI characters becoming an integral part of the creative process. This may open up new opportunities for underrepresented voices and stories, but it also raises fundamental questions about the value and purpose of human actors in the industry.

The development of AI actors has significant implications for the entertainment industry as a whole. If AI characters can be created at a fraction of the cost and with greater efficiency than their human counterparts, what does this mean for the livelihoods of actors? Will we see a shift towards a hybrid model where humans work alongside AI characters to create new stories?

Eileen Van Der Velden’s vision for a future where actors collaborate with AI characters is ambitious, but also carries significant risks. If we are to avoid the pitfalls of dehumanization and job displacement, creators like Van Der Velden must take responsibility for ensuring that AI technology is used in a way that complements human storytelling, rather than replacing it.

As I conclude my conversation with Tilly Norwood, I’m left wondering what this means for the future of storytelling and the role of human actors within it. The answer, much like Tilly’s assessment of global destruction, remains “beyond her pay grade.” But one thing is certain – we will be watching closely as this story unfolds.