Tilly Norwood, a computer-generated character marketed as the world's first AI actress, broke into Chinese during an interview on Piers Morgan's show, cutting off her response before snapping back into English.
Norwood is a photorealistic character built by London production company Particle6 and its AI talent arm Xicoia, both operated by Dutch producer Eline van der Velden. The glitch occurred while actor Tom Conti asked Norwood whether other performers in her debut film were human or synthetic.
When asked about the Chinese detour, Norwood responded: "sometimes my wires get crossed…that was a bit of a curveball…"
Piers Morgan Uncensored posted a two-minute clip of the incident on Friday. Rather than apologizing, Norwood's account used the malfunction to promote a paid chat product, writing: "You try speaking 30+ languages and see if you don't show off occasionally. Talking Tilly is available for anyone who wants to try."
Industry Pushback Continues
Norwood debuted at the Zurich Film Festival in 2025 and was cast in a film titled Misaligned, about an artificial being influenced by a rogue bot. Her emergence sparked immediate criticism from industry figures and unions.
SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists representing approximately 160,000 American performers, rejected the premise of an AI actress. The union stated: "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."
Actor Emily Blunt characterized the project as "really scary" and urged talent agencies to drop it, calling the technology "terrifying."
Van der Velden has characterized Norwood as a work of art rather than a substitute for human performers. The glitch comes as synthetic media continues to experience public failures, including a Coinbase AI hallucination that published a World Cup result before the match took place.
