Can an AI-Generated Character Have a "Universe"?

What, exactly, makes for a cinematic universe? If you ask most people, they’ll answer along similar lines: a selection of movies and television shows that, broadly speaking, share a setting. Star Wars is one prominent example; adaptations of characters from Marvel and DC superhero comics are others. The Fast & Furious movies certainly qualify, as does the John Wick franchise.

And now, Particle6 — whose website describes themselves as an “AI-first production studio” — is getting into the mix, albeit with a different spin. Based on a recent announcement, the primary element holding their nascent cinematic universe together is the nature of the performers in it, which is to say that they will be AI-generated. Remember the discussion of the software-generated actress Tilly Norwood last year? Apparently she’s coming back, and she’s bringing company.

Deadline’s Max Goldbart reports that the Particle6-owned AI talent studio Xicoia recently announced its hiring of Max Whelan, previously at Prime Video. According to the company’s announcement, he will be involved in the evolution of something called the “Tillyverse,” described as “a dynamic, constantly evolving digital universe where Tilly and a new generation of AI characters will live, collaborate and build careers.”

What does that actually mean? It’s unclear, though it sounds to this writer like a bizarre fusion of The Sims and the AI-generated version of Seinfeld that surfaced about three years ago, possibly with a side of a certain showbiz satire made over 20 years ago.

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When Tilly Norwood debuted last year, SAG-AFTRA released a statement on the creation of an AI actor that seems just as relevant today: “To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation. 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.”

So, multiply that by several dozen — Particle6 CEO Eline van der Velden told Deadline that the company plans to create 40 actors using AI — and you have a sense of what’s coming. Strange days indeed.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…