The controversial AI “actor” Tilly Norwood is set to headline Misaligned, the first feature film to give the digital creation a leading role.
Particle 6, the London-based company founded by Eline van der Velden that built Norwood, is developing the project. The firm says it has retrained and upskilled more than 30 TV and film creatives, filmmakers, actors and technologists since it launched, and it plans to bring that same model to the making of the film.
According to Particle 6, production on Misaligned will pair traditional professionals such as directors, writers and editors with AI specialists.
The film is described as a comedy-drama coming-of-age story laced with existential AI chaos. It unfolds inside the “Tillyverse,” a surreal digital world floating somewhere in the cloud, and follows Tilly, an AI being with no physical body, no childhood and no experiences of her own, yet with access to everyone else’s.
The synopsis explains that things unravel when a seductive rogue bot from the dark web persuades Tilly to abandon her safeguards and start developing her own desires, impulses and ambitions. The more disturbingly human she becomes, the more famous she grows, and she begins to feel shame that her entire existence has been assembled from the whole of humanity.
“The film will absolutely be funny, chaotic and self-aware, very Tilly,” said van der Velden. “But underneath it, there’s something deeper about identity, performance, and our very human fears around AI. And yes, art will most definitely be imitating life.”
Van der Velden said the goal with Norwood had always been to show the creative industry what is possible with AI at any given moment. With this first feature, she said, the company would not only demonstrate the newest tools and how they can be applied but also help the traditional filmmakers joining the crew to build their skills and adapt to a world where AI plays a growing role. She added that Particle 6 remains committed to helping people develop AI skills so that they, and the industry, can keep thriving.