Tilly Norwood, AI actress, raises ethical concerns in film (www.thestatesman.com)

Eline Van Der Velden debuted Tilly Norwood — a fully synthetic “AI actress” created by Xicoia, a spin‑off of her studio Particle6 — at the Zurich Summit, framing the character as a new tool for storytelling rather than a replacement for human performers. Talent agents have already shown interest, and Xicoia says it plans to produce more AI talent. Van Der Velden compares AI actors to past technological storytelling tools like animation and CGI, arguing they expand creative possibilities. The announcement has ignited intense debate across the industry and online, centering on consent, likeness rights, and ethical training data practices. Critics point to reporting that Tilly’s face was composited from hundreds of living women, raising questions about whether those individuals consented or were compensated — issues that go straight to how generative image/video models are trained and deployed. For the AI/ML community this is a clear inflection point: technical capabilities (face compositing, synthetic video and voice generation) are outpacing legal and ethical frameworks, and widespread adoption in casting could reshape labor, IP, and regulatory norms. The story underscores an urgent need for transparency around data provenance, informed consent, and industry standards if synthetic performers are to be integrated responsibly into entertainment.