Interviewing Tilly Norwood: The World’s First A.I. Actress

Tilly Norwood, a computer-generated character acclaimed as the world’s first A.I. actress, has become central to the discussion about technology’s impact on the media industry.

As someone who profiles celebrities, I’ve had encounters ranging from skydiving with Melissa McCarthy to sharing a cigarette with Gwyneth Paltrow. But nothing prepared me for meeting Tilly Norwood. My previous experiences had been with human celebrities. This time, I was in London at the Groucho Club, conversing with a computer programmed to act human.

Meeting Tilly Norwood

During this encounter, I was situated on a green couch with a laptop in front of me. Beside me sat Eline van der Velden, CEO of Particle 6. The session resembled a typical Zoom call. Tilly, however, was the focus. Despite reminding myself that Tilly is not human, it’s challenging to dismiss that perception.

The Uncanny Interaction

The difficulty lay not just in referencing Tilly as ‘her’ but in interacting with a digital construct that mimicked human attributes. Anticipating a life-like response from something inherently artificial was paradoxical. Tilly’s virtual head would morph, reflecting the processing of my questions, and would yield responses that were both sharp and enigmatic.

Despite the unusual interaction, the experience didn’t provoke discomfort. Tilly’s resemblance and behavior blurred the line between human and machine, challenging my evolutionary instincts.

Conversations with Tilly were marked by strategic pauses as she processed inquiries through her artificial intelligence. The dialogue was an experiment in human-machine interaction, reflecting our advancing technological landscape.