Why AI-generated influencer 'Tilly Norwood' ignited fierce backlash from Hollywood

One of the most dominant themes at the moment is the influence Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have on society.

Time and time again, claims are made that AI will eventually replace the many roles and jobs that humans currently fulfil.

In fact, many theorists believe AI will become so deeply entrenched in the way human beings function, that it'll become so hard to distinguish whether we're interacting with 'robots' or humans.

The manner in which businesses adopt the technology is vital, as authenticity is going to be the most important thing for customers, and not necessarily how efficient the technology is utilised.

AI-generated character Tilly Norwood is a good case in point, given the uproar its caused since its creation earlier this year.

The announcement that the character was to be signed by a talent agency attracted strong criticism from Hollywood, who questioned why a human could not be used for acting jobs, instead of a AI-generated character.

Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Arthur Goldstuck, founder of Worldwide Worx says the rise and fall of Tilly Norwood is a cautionary take for businesses. 

"What Tilly Norwood was doing, was replacing performers, and that's exactly how she was portrayed to the market. So when the creators presented her to the Zurich Film Festival, they we in effect marketing her as the next big thing in movies, and the entire movie industry lashed out at the creators, the producers, the studios. The actors themselves, lots of Oscar-winning performers in fact criticising severely what was going down there, and saying the industry has to stay far away from Tilly, says Goldstuck.

"When we're in on it, we're fine with it, but when you're pretending that it's real, and we're discover that it's not real, that's when the backlash happens," added Goldstuck.

Listen to the interview in the audio player above.