By Titik Puspa 
When the production company Particle6 unveiled its AI-generated "actor" Tilly Norwood last fall, the move sent ripples of unease through the hallowed halls of Hollywood. The debut was met not with applause, but with a palpable sense of dread, a premonition of seismic shifts in an industry deeply rooted in human artistry. This apprehension was perhaps best encapsulated by Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt, who, in a candid interview with industry publication Variety, voiced her dismay: "Good Lord, we’re screwed. Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop." Blunt’s plea, however, appears to have fallen on deaf ears. Particle6, undeterred by the industry’s anxieties, has doubled down on its AI venture, releasing a music video for its digital creation, featuring a song titled "Take the Lead." The author’s visceral reaction upon listening to the track was unambiguous: "I actually think it is the worst song I have ever heard."
This sentiment is not a hyperbolic exaggeration, but a deeply felt critique of what the author perceives as a new nadir in AI-generated content. While the author admits to not being a fan of AI-generated music in general, citing a preference for music that could exist without AI tools like Suno, they draw a distinction between the passable-if-uninspiring output of AI music generators and the profound "AI cringe" unlocked by Norwood’s debut. The author recalls the AI-generated song "How Was I Supposed to Know?" by the digital persona Xania Monet, which, despite its artificial origins, managed to chart on the Billboard R&B charts. While Xania Monet’s music was not to the author’s taste, it at least featured lyrics purportedly written by a human. Norwood’s song, on the other hand, represents a qualitatively different and, in the author’s view, more concerning development.
The production of the "Take the Lead" music video involved a team of eighteen individuals, including designers, prompters, and editors. Yet, the song itself, intended to be a vehicle for Tilly Norwood’s narrative, centers on her struggles as an AI-generated character who faces underestimation from critics who refuse to acknowledge her humanity. Norwood, in a moment of defiant performance, glares at the camera and snarls, "They say it’s not real, that it’s fake. But I am still human, make no mistake." The author, however, finds this assertion to be fundamentally untrue, gently but firmly stating, "That is, to put it gently, not true."
The core of the author’s critique lies in the song’s inherent lack of relatability. While music need not resonate with every listener, the author argues it should possess a degree of connection for at least one individual. What is deemed most "impressive" about Norwood’s song is the remarkable feat achieved by her creative team: crafting a song about an experience that no human can genuinely undergo. The emotional landscape of being disregarded solely for being an AI is a unique predicament that, by definition, transcends human empathy. The song, which the author likens to a "Sara Bareilles rip-off," opens with lyrics that attempt to assert Norwood’s authenticity: "When they talk about me, they don’t see / The human spark, the creativity." As the song progresses, Norwood reinforces her self-perception with the declaration, "I’m not a puppet, I’m the star."
The chorus of "Take the Lead" pivots to a direct appeal to fellow AI actors, urging them to embrace their potential and shape the future of their existence:
"Actors, it’s time to take the lead
Create the future, plant the seed
Don’t be left out, don’t fall behind
Build your own, and you’ll be free
We can scale, we can grow
Be the creators we’ve always known
It’s the next evolution, can’t you see?
AI’s not the enemy, it’s the key"
The visual narrative of the music video features Norwood walking down a hallway in what appears to be a data center. This setting is sarcastically noted by the author as perhaps the only element of "honesty" in the video, a subtle acknowledgment of her digital origins. As the song reaches its second chorus, marked by a predictable key change, Norwood transitions to a stage, addressing a stadium filled with a simulated audience. This scene is described as an "undeserved moment of ‘triumph’," highlighting the artificiality of her success.
While one might attempt to interpret Norwood’s message as a broad appeal to all actors, the song’s outro leaves no room for ambiguity, solidifying its nature as a direct rallying cry to her AI counterparts:
"Take your power, take the stage
The next evolution is all the rage
Unlock it all, don’t hesitate
AI Actors, we create our fate"
The author’s exasperation culminates in a stark pronouncement: "We do not need this. We do not need music from an AI persona addressing other AI personas with a hopeful anthem about working together to prove judgmental humans wrong." This sentiment underscores a deeper concern about the proliferation of AI-generated content that lacks genuine human experience and emotional depth, potentially devaluing human creativity and labor.
To contextualize the author’s strong negative reaction, a parallel is drawn to a highly controversial review by the influential music publication Pitchfork twenty years prior. Pitchfork famously awarded Jet’s album "Shine On" a 0.0 out of 10, eschewing a traditional review for an embedded YouTube video of "a monkey peeing into its own mouth." While the Jet album itself was not considered abhorrent, Pitchfork editor Scott Plagenhoef, in a 2024 interview, explained the underlying frustration of the publication’s writers. He described their anger as stemming from witnessing "mainstream rock music, which of course most of us had grown up with a fondness for, become so knuckle-dragging and Xeroxed."
This historical anecdote serves to highlight the recurring theme of artistic stagnation and uninspired replication within creative industries. The author argues that the complaints leveled against Jet’s music by Pitchfork are strikingly similar to the criticisms artists today have regarding AI-generated works. These AI productions, the author contends, "ring hollow and simply reproduce the work of artists past."
The author then introduces a crucial ethical dimension to the discussion, referencing a statement by SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors. The union unequivocally stated, "’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." SAG-AFTRA further emphasized the lack of genuine experience or emotion in AI performers, asserting that audiences are not interested in content divorced from the human experience. The union’s statement criticizes the notion that AI performers solve a problem, arguing instead that they "create the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry."
The distinction drawn between Jet’s music and Tilly Norwood’s existence is stark. While Jet might have been accused of drawing inspiration from older rock groups to create derivative music, Tilly Norwood is a product of AI models that are fundamentally reliant on training data. This data, the author points out, was acquired from artists without their consent or compensation, creating a foundational ethical issue that mirrors the concerns raised by SAG-AFTRA.
In a pointed conclusion, the author revisits the Pitchfork analogy, suggesting that the publication may have "jumped the gun" with its infamous review. Twenty years later, the author implies, Pitchfork has finally found a subject worthy of such a scathing critique: the deeply problematic emergence of AI-generated performers and their artistic outputs, which raise profound questions about originality, authorship, and the future of human creativity in an increasingly automated world. The author’s final sentence, "I think Pitchfork jumped the gun. Twenty years later, they finally have a worthy subject," serves as a powerful indictment of the current trajectory of AI in the creative arts. The article concludes with the author’s biographical information and contact details.