BRIAN LOCKHART
FROM THE SECOND ROW

The name Tilly sounds, at least to me, a little old-fashioned.

Names come and go, then come back into fashion over time.

I've never met a woman named Tilly, but the name sort of conjures up the idea of an older woman with her grey hair in a bun – sort of like the little Granny who used to keep Tweety Bird as a pet.

However, there is a new Tilly in town – Tilly Norwood.

Tilly Norwood is an attractive young woman with long, dark brown hair and a beautiful smile. 

Her publicity agent has released some photos of Tilly in the hopes of securing a movie contract through a talent agency.

The thing is, Tilly doesn't exist. She is an AI-generated person. She's not real.

I wrote about this a few weeks ago, predicting that movies will soon be using AI-generated actors. I didn't think it would happen so soon, but apparently, Tilly is ready to be cast in the next Hollywood blockbuster.

Hollywood has reacted with rather negative emotions when hearing about Tilly.

The Actors Union has already made some rules about the use of AI-generated actors. I guess they have already considered that this could be coming.

Some actors have made comments that an AI-generated person does not have the experience to recreate human emotion on screen. I don't blame them for not liking this development in the industry – after all, it's something that could take jobs away from professional actors.

I haven't seen any live action of Tilly on screen. I'm not sure how she would be inserted into a film; however, if they could mix cartoon characters and live people in a movie like they did in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” in 1988, I'm sure the technology to insert an AI-generated person into a movie already exists.

AI has really made strides over the past few years.

A few months ago, I had to contact a ‘help centre' for some reason I can't remember. However, prior to someone answering the telephone, there was a voice that told you the person you would be speaking to was actually an AI-generated voice.

We had quite the conversation. The voice spoke intelligently and sounded like a real person.

It answered my questions immediately and was very pleasant.

It was an odd experience to have a conversation with someone who you knew didn't exist.

The voice was so authentic, you pretty much forgot it wasn't a real person.

You may remember the TV show, “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

I was never really a Star Trek guy, but I did like this series.

On the Starship Enterprise, they had something known as the Holodeck. It was an AI-generated room that could create places and people in a 3D environment.

The people and places appeared to be real – but could only exist on the Holodeck, and they couldn't leave it.

In one episode, someone programmed a lounge, and one of its patrons was a beautiful woman, who, of course, all the Star Trek guys were falling for.

It turns out, she was created to respond to each guy, exactly as he would want her to act. Basically, she was every guy's dream girl.

The problem was, she couldn't leave the Holodeck because she wasn't real.

As AI actors become more commonplace, I'm pretty sure the Star Trek girl type of persona will exist, at least on screen.

Filmmakers will be able to create the exact person you will want to see in a movie.

Do you need a beautiful ingénue for your film? Easily created.

Maybe you need a horror film villain that will scare the pants off the audience. No problem, we can create one.

Change can be scary, but good at the same time.

I recall a conversation in a college class when we were introduced to digital technology, when it was just being created. The conversation turned to this new technology and the visual media.

One guy said, “Nothing will ever replace film.”

Another guy said, “Don't be so sure, nothing lasts forever.”

Turns out, he was right.

AI technology has a lot of potential, both good and bad.