During a recent publicity appearance for the AI-generated film Misaligned, an artificial actress named Tilly Norwood experienced a technical malfunction, abruptly switching to Cantonese mid-interview. The incident occurred while Norwood was speaking with Piers Morgan and veteran actor Tom Conti.
Conti had questioned Norwood, who is the AI firm Particle6's flagship virtual performer, about whether her co-stars were also computer-generated. Norwood appeared to freeze before launching into a 20-second speech in Cantonese. "I didn’t quite get that," Conti responded, according to footage of the exchange.
Particle6 has been promoting Norwood as an AI actress for approximately a year. Misaligned, the company's first film featuring the AI performer, follows a virtual actor's journey to gain human acceptance. The film itself was generated using AI.
AI's presence in the entertainment industry continues to be a significant talking point. Companies are exploring the technology's potential to replace human creators with automated content generation. However, concerns persist regarding the uncanny nature and potential instability of AI-generated media. Industry organizations are actively working to establish protections for actors and crew against potential job displacement. Meanwhile, audiences have expressed dissatisfaction with films that appear to embrace AI trends too readily, with younger demographics reportedly showing more apprehension towards AI than older generations.
Particle6 CEO Eline van der Velden suggested that Norwood's Cantonese outburst was an unintended demonstration of her language capabilities. "I’m guessing she just wanted to show her language skills as most of her interviews to date have been in English," van der Velden told Deadline. "She is autonomous after all."
Norwood's stilted delivery and the glitch during the interview have highlighted some of the challenges AI entertainment faces in appealing to audiences. The AI actress's performance was described as having a "dead eyed animation loop" and a speaking pattern compared to a car's navigation system.