AI Character Tilly Norwood Stars in Music Video That Puts Rebecca Black’s Friday to Shame

The AI “actor” Tilly Norwood isn’t fading into the background anytime soon. This AI-generated character is back in the spotlight with a new single and music video that promotes the potential of AI in the creative space.

Tilly Norwood was introduced last fall by the AI talent studio Xicoia, founded by Eline van der Velden, who aimed to get this digital creation signed by real Hollywood talent agencies. However, the initiative faced significant backlash, with SAG-AFTRA stating that “‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation.”

Now, van der Velden is making headlines again with the release of “Take the Lead,” a single and music video that addresses the criticism directed at her and Xicoia. The song’s lyrics draw inspiration from an essay van der Velden wrote about the Hollywood backlash.

In the music video, Norwood showcases a dynamic array of outfits and settings while singing about how people overlook “the human spark, the creativity” behind the coding of its creators. Lyrics like “They say it’s not real, that it’s fake / But I am still human, make no mistake / My soul’s in every move I take” add to the song’s controversial vibe.

The video opens with a claim that it was produced by “18 real humans,” including “prompters.” The song itself was generated using Suno, an AI platform that faced legal action from major record labels in 2024 for copyright issues. Interestingly, Warner later decided to collaborate with Suno, perhaps indicating a shift in strategy. Van der Velden’s company, Particle6, created the video using a mix of accessible AI tools and its own creative methods, including performance capture, where van der Velden physically acted out Norwood’s performance. Eighteen real humans, indeed.

“Tilly is, and has always been, a vehicle to test the creative capabilities and boundaries of AI — not take anyone’s job,” van der Velden stated. “As an actor myself, I have loved bringing Tilly alive for this video and feel that the ability to now use performance capture in this way, to fully inhabit an AI character, is a phenomenal way to bring an unknown actor like me closer to the craft.”

It seems Norwood’s acting debut is on the horizon for later this year.