Tilly, Tilly, Tilly. You usurper. You sucker of souls!
Hollywood flew into a tizzy this week at the news that a computer-generated “actor” named Tilly Norwood will soon have an agent and, presumably, a career in entertainment. It’s not clear what comes next for the AI creation, but flesh-and-blood actors fear a future in which digital performers replace them in commercials, films and television.
“The product I have to sell is basically me and they are trying to replace me and make me obsolete,” said Bronson Pinchot, a friend of mine who first came to fame as lovable immigrant “Balki Bartokomous” in the late 1980s sitcom “Perfect Strangers.” “It’s absolutely terrifying.”
If you didn’t hear the news, Xicoia, a London-based AI talent studio, launched Norwood. She is depicted on social media as a winsome young Brit, who favors iced coffee and London cafés. As my colleague Wendy Lee reported, Ms. Tilly’s social media sizzle reel includes scenes of her battling a monster and running away from a collapsing building in a futuristic city.
What infuriates Pinchot and a lot of other actors is that artificial creations like Tilly-dearest wouldn’t be possible without machine learning. And those machines learned their “craft” by synthesizing the work of living, breathing actors. It’s an issue that the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, has insisted must be negotiated, allowing actors to approve if their work can be reused and to negotiate how much they will be paid.
“They are going to use our work, use all this information, to perfect every possible inflection and expression. And they are just going to steal all of that,” said Pinchot, who recently appeared in the Netflix murder mystery, “The Residence.” “That is the true horror of it.”
Dutch actor Eline Van der Velden, who helped create the AI studio, responded to the tsunami of scorn with an Instagram post in which he called Norwood “a creative work — a piece of art.” Her suggestion was that AI images can co-exist with actors, who strut and fret their hours upon the screen, without doing damage to the Real McCoys.
As Lee reported: Tech companies have argued that they should be able to train their AI models on content available online and bring up relevant information under the “fair use” doctrine, which allows for the limited reproduction of content without permission from the copyright holder. But big Hollywood players like Disney and Universal have sued, saying AI companies have infringed on their copyrights.
My friend Bronson wonders where it will all end. One of his meal tickets in recent years has been narrating audio books. He’ll voice multiple characters. He’ll deliver pathos. But he’s heard AI voices beginning to intrude into the audiobook world.
“With newer, younger audiences, maybe they won’t notice the difference,” said Pinchot. “They won’t have heard someone who can play 35 characters, who can play victory and defeat at the same time. So they won’t miss it. They won’t miss it!” He compared it to someone who has never tasted a farm-fresh egg. They’ll think a supermarket-chilled substitute is good enough.
Like a lot of his peers, he also tried a little gallows humor, joking that the AI actress might start becoming too human. “What if Tilly is disrespectful of the script? What if she goes on a press tour and roots for the aggressor in a horrible war? What if she has poor hygiene? What do you do?….We’re laughing. But the whole thing is chilling.”
I suggested to Bronson (who many also recall from “Beverly Hills Cop” and its recent sequel with Eddie Murphy) that perhaps audiences would vote with their pocketbooks, declining to consume shows featuring AI-generated actors.
“You can boycott this until your legs fall off,” said Pinchot. “But if there is an audience of 11-year-old boys, the [producers] will find them. So Tilly will proliferate and flourish and there will be others like her.”
“It’s like a bad dream,” he added. “But there is no waking up.”
Today’s top stories
Trump vs. higher education
The White House asked nine elite universities, including USC, to adopt Trump’s political priorities in exchange for priority access to federal grants.
Gov. Gavin Newsom swung back and threatened to cut state funding for any California campus that agrees.
Celeste Rivas Hernandez
Before she was found dead in D4vd’s Tesla, Hernandez’s mysterious disappearances distressed her family.
The missing teen had been dead weeks when she was found in singer D4vd’s Tesla trunk.
California’s legal fight against Trump
Trump’s repeated funding cuts put pressure on California and complicate its legal fight.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has sued the Trump administration more than 40 times.
He says President Trump disregards the rule of law and overstates his control of federal funding.
Can the depleted Colorado keep feeding California?
Talks aimed at solving the Colorado River’s water shortage are at an impasse.
The leader of one environmental group says there is a “failure of leadership” among state and federal officials, and “everybody else is being left in the dark.”
What else is going on
A massive fire and explosion rocked the Chevron refinery in El Segundo late Thursday night. See video here.
An admired climber died in a fall from Yosemite’s El Capitan during apparent livestream
Here’s the latest design for the newly issued California driver’s license.
The SoCal serial arsonist who started a 44,000-acre wildfire was caught by a license plate reader.
Why are buyers returning to Tesla?
L.A.’s federal public defender told columnist Gustavo Arellano Trump has inundated his office with immigration cases
California is finally quitting coal. Climate columnist Sammy Roth has the inside scoop on what comes next.
Congress’ Democrats are wildly unprepared to face down Trump, argues contributor Matt K. Lewis.
This morning’s must reads
Other must reads
Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ is an immaculate act of damage control.
Maui vacations, luxury watches: A wine buyer at major California grocery chain has been accused of taking bribes
For your downtime
Going out
Eating out: Here are 15 of the best Thai restaurants in Los Angeles
Movies: Dwayne Johnson’s MMA biopic ‘The Smashing Machine’ is a nostalgia headache.
Staying in
Television: ‘Maigret’ on PBS is the latest version of Simenon’s French detective. Here are 6 others to watch
🥗 Here’s a recipe for You-Choose Classic Apple Crisp, Spiced Crumble, Snickerdoodle Cobbler or Nutty Gluten-Free Crisp.
✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.
A question for you: What do other drivers do on the road that frustrates you?
We’re looking for your takes on L.A. driving etiquette. Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter.
And finally … your photo of the day
Today’s photo comes from the following story: This Beverly Hills haven for the rich has a floating garden for the public. Here’s a sneak peek.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters