A.I.: The Downfall of Hollywood?

Human expression is at risk when A.I. replaces actors

"Tilly Norwood" (Peter Mountain/Netflix)

Will Smith's “I, Robot” is classified as science fiction, but if anything it seems more like a vision of our near future with A.I. The movie accurately predicted the replacement of human jobs with A.I, such as drivers, the presence of algorithms within households, etc. This movie may have seemed like a fantasy in 2004, but is now a common occurrence. Hollywood, a place created by humans for humans, has been infiltrated by robots. What has made movies emotional and relatable to people have been the humans behind it: those who star and execute realistic performances that grab and connect to audiences, the hours and hours put in to write the story, set up the cameras, even to make the set.

Tilly Norwood, the world's first A.I., has taken over the news by how accessible she is compared to humans. She can be anywhere you want her to be, she can look like whoever you want, and she doesn't need to be paid for her labor. A perfect solution in the eyes of the studios CEOs. As Tilly's account said in an X post, “In 20 seconds I fought monsters, fled explosions, sold you a car, and nearly won an Oscar. All in a day’s work… literally! Find yourself an actress who can do it all.” While some argue that her work can be classified as “puppetry”, or even a type of animation, that statement is simply not true. A.I. 's algorithm, without consent, literally pulls from real actors, art, photography, to replicate its performance. 

A.I.'s sudden surge in Hollywood will be its downfall. A.I. “actors” like Tilly Norwood will only continue to plague the space your beloved actors have spent years crafting, and will dwindle until it's left as an emotionless void of computer generated slop. Writers, who have spent years of their life creating the stories you grew up with, will be replaced by generative copies that lack the charm and heart that make up human artwork.  With A.I. we lose the humanity in media we should expect as consumers.

Beloved actors have been very outspoken about their distaste for this new advancement. A-list celebrities, such as Emily Blunt said in an interview with Variety after being shown Tilly's account, “No, are you serious? That’s an AI? Good Lord, we’re screwed. That is really, really scary, Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection”. We've seen the effects already of using A.I. in performances, such as the 2025 Oscars with Adrian Brody. Brody won Best Actor for his performance in The Brutalist, against other talented actors such as Sebastian Stan, and Timothy Chalamet. But the kicker, he used A.I. to enhance his accent during his performance. It sparked conversation among critics and consumers alike, on if he should have even been nominated in the first place. 

While actors are the most vocal on the issue, A.I. 's reign does not stop there. Hollywood's screenwriters are affected, if not more, than the actors are. With the accessibility of programs like ChatGPT, it's no wonder the speed of which it has consumed the community has been so rapid. A Notable comedian and writer, Elliot Kalan, whose work includes The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has said in an interview with BBC, "If that happens, writers will lose a lot of the compensation they should be receiving for their ideas and their work, as well as losing the chance to really contribute something meaningful to audiences."

We as consumers cannot give these companies our money to pump out meaningless slop. It's not only an insult to the actors or writers, but to us, the watchers, the people who sit down and consume the media. We deserve authenticity and connection. “Actors” like Norwood cannot connect with people because she hasn't lived the life a normal person has, she hasn't felt complex emotions that make humans, humans. As Becky Duff said in an article for The University of Virginia, “Part of the reason why beloved actors are stellar is that they produce remarkable art that is able to emotionally move and challenge people. It is an experience for both the actor and the audience.” And I urge you as a media consumer, to pay attention and support projects that are made with the time, effort, and love that we deserve.