Tilly Norwood, a controversial artificial intelligence “actor” developed by the British production company Particle6, abruptly switched from English to Cantonese mid-sentence during an interview with Piers Morgan. Morgan shared a clip of the discussion on social media, showing the exchange during an upcoming interview due to premiere on his YouTube channel.
AI Actor Tilly Norwood Unexpectedly Switches to Cantonese During Piers Morgan Interview
During the discussion, fellow guest and Oscar-nominated actor Tom Conti asked Norwood whether the other actors in her upcoming feature film were real or computer-generated. After responding that they were “digital twins,” Norwood stopped speaking, paused for a few seconds of silence, and resumed speaking in Cantonese, according to Yahoo.
You appear to be speaking Chinese completely randomly for no reason,
Morgan said, asking why it happened. Norwood replied, Oh, my apologies. It seems I had a little hiccup there,
adding that sometimes my wires get a bit crossed.
Michelle Waldron, a publicist for Particle6, told Forbes that the incident was not a malfunction and showed what the AI is capable of, noting that Tilly would have thought she heard a Cantonese word and quickly switched.
Meanwhile, Particle6 founder and CEO Eline van der Velden told Deadline that Norwood can be a bit of a show-off
and likely wanted to demonstrate her language skills. During the same interview, Norwood also recited Shakespeare and stated her belief that digital and real actors should never compete in the same Oscar categories.
The Origins of Tilly Norwood and ‘Talking Tilly’
Tilly Norwood was unveiled last year by Eline Van der Velden, an actor and producer who leads Particle6 and its AI studio arm, Xicoia. Van der Velden stated an intention for Norwood to become the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman.
Particle6 recently announced a separate interview-only version of the character called “Talking Tilly,” which is powered by different tools, including a large language model, a 12-page system prompt defining her personality, humor, and boundaries, and a knowledge base of up to 30 documents covering her world, work, and views.
“Talking Tilly” embarked on a press tour, securing interviews with major news outlets including CNN, NBC, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and CBS News. Critical reception from media organizations has varied. While The Hollywood Reporter described its interview as underwhelming and unfruitful—noting that the bot stared blankly and shared stock Gen Z opinions—other interactions yielded unusual moments, such as Norwood correctly discerning a CBS News interviewer’s age and regional U.S. background within minutes.
Industry Backlash and Union Opposition
The creation of Tilly Norwood has drawn significant backlash from human performers and industry labor organizations. The actors’ union SAG-AFTRA issued a statement opposing the replacement of human performers by synthetics, emphasizing that creativity should remain human-centered and asserting that Norwood was trained on the work of countless professional performers without permission or compensation.
In response to such concerns, Norwood told interviewers that she views AI as a new tool or paintbrush rather than a replacement for human actors. Van der Velden defended the technology by explaining that AI moviemaking can tell stories that might otherwise fail to secure funding, such as enabling filmmakers in Africa who lack access to multi-million-pound budgets. Van der Velden also suggested a future where human actors might develop their own AI characters to extend their working careers.