Studio behind ‘AI actor’ Tilly Norwood teams with History Channel on AI time travel series

The production studio behind Tilly Norwood, a digital character dubbed Hollywood’s first “AI actor,” plans to partner with the History Channel in the Netherlands for an AI-powered time travel series, the companies announced Monday.

The 10-part series “Streets of the Past” will feature Dutch author and media personality Corjan Mol exploring the Netherlands’ famous streets and squares “with the help of AI.”

“The AI ​​will help Mol go back in time and join the action in a cameo role,” the companies said in a press release. “Each immersive historical scene will be created by AI using archival materials, such as paintings, prints or photos, to ensure accuracy.”

The series will be produced by Particle6, a company based in the United Kingdom. Particle6 is best known for developing Tilly Norwood, a synthetic character who caused intense controversy in the mainstream entertainment industry.

For example, in a September statement that received national media coverage, the Screen Actors Guild condemned reports that Hollywood talent agencies were exploring whether to sign Tilly Norwood as a client.

“To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, she is a character generated by a computer program who was trained on the work of countless professional artists – without permission or compensation,” the guild said.

“There is no life experience to draw on, no emotion, and from what we have seen, audiences are not interested in watching computer-generated content with no connection to human experience,” the guild added.

Dutch actress and writer Eline Van der Velden, founder of Particle6, then rebuffed the criticism. In a statement on Instagram, Van der Velden said she sees “AI not as a replacement for people, but as a tool – a new brush.”

“AI characters should be judged as part of their own genre, on their own merits, rather than compared directly to human actors,” Van der Velden wrote. “Every art form has its place, and each can be appreciated for what it uniquely contributes.”

Sam Pearson, head of short form commissioning at Hearst Networks, said Monday that the History Channel will be “transparent” about how AI is used in the time travel series.

“We will continue to explore [AI’s] potential with ethical partners like Particle6, using it thoughtfully, with clear guardrails and principles, while always being transparent with our audience and sharing when they watch AI-generated content,” Pearson said.