With the recent rise in use of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) in artistic endeavors like image generation, writing, and online persona generation, complete with images, physical descriptions, and the ability to emulate human communication, the question of when A.I. would enter Hollywood has become a heated debate online.

The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA, quickly replied, stating “Norwood is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers… It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience.”

Actors and actresses including Emily Blunt, Mara Wilson, Ralph Ineson, and many more criticized Norwood, van der Velden, and any companies that signed Norwood, saying they should offer the job to real performers. They also criticized Particle6 for using countless uncredited industry professionals to create Norwood, and Mara Wilson recommended to any agencies interested in hiring Norwood that they should hire one of the hundreds of real women she was based on instead.

Live Action acting isn’t the only industry that has been affected by the possibility of A.I. incorporation. For workers in the animation industry, the ever-improving abilities of Generative A.I. threatens jobs and livelihoods. According to a 2024 study by HarrisX, a private company specializing in technology and media data analytics, 55% of entertainment workers believe animators will face a “major impact” from A.I. within two years. Copyright lawsuits have been brought against A.I. companies like Midjourney by Disney and Universal for use of their products in A.I.-generated images.

“Nearly half of A.I. users surveyed admitted they had used tools to mimic the work of specific creators or studios, from Shakespearean writing prompts to Studio Ghibli-inspired imagery,” found a 2025 online survey by Luminate Entertainment. “For concept artists, who often design worlds, characters, and tones before production begins, this represents lost work and potential erasure of their craft.”

Finally, the argument has made it all the way up to the Academy Awards – arguably one of the leading decision makers for whether a new idea or technology will continue to be incorporated into Hollywood. Unfortunately for Tilly Norwood, the Academy officially announced that only works written and acted by real humans are eligible for Oscar nominations.

The Academy clarified rules for two categories related to AI: In the acting categories, only roles that are “demonstrably performed by humans with their consent will be considered eligible.” And in the screenplay categories, “the rules codify that screenplays must be human-authored to be eligible.” (vanityfair.com)

You can rest easy knowing that, for the foreseeable future, no Oscars will be awarded to Tilly Norwood or the Terminator – that is, unless Arnold Schwarzenegger decides to rejoin the franchise. Hopefully this decision also leads to a rehiring of live workers in every industry as companies begin to recognize the difference between emotionless A.I. work and the true form of art that can only be created by a human being.

(This article was written without the use of A.I.)