AI “actor” Tilly Norwood has officially entered the music scene with the release of her debut single and accompanying music video. The project comes from London-based Xicoia Studios and offers the first glimpse into ‘Tilly-verse’, an entertainment world where AI characters are designed to live, interact and work.
The single, titled ‘Take the Lead’, is inspired by a recently published essay by Eline van der Velden, Norwood’s creator and CEO of production company Particle6. Van der Velden explained that the lyrics reflect last year’s widespread backlash in Hollywood following reports that agents were seeking to sign Norwood.
In the music video, released on Tuesday, AI Norwood can be seen performing on a London rooftop, swinging from a disco ball, bathing and even flying through the clouds on a blow-up flamingo. A note at the top of the video clarifies that 18 humans contributed to the production, including designers, editors, prompters and an actor.
The lyrics include lines such as, “When they talk about me, they don’t see the human spark, the creativity … I’m just a tool, but I’ve got life,” and “They think I’m just a dollar dream but I’ve got more than they believe … I’m not a puppet, I’m the star.”
Take the Lead was created using the AI tool Suno, while the video was produced by Particle6 through a combination of AI tools and proprietary techniques. Performance capture was used to bring Norwood to life, with van der Velden acting out her performance.
Van der Velden emphasised that Tilly is designed to explore the creative potential of AI rather than replace human actors. She said, “As an actor myself, I have loved bringing Tilly alive for this video. Using performance capture in this way allows us to inhabit an AI character fully and explore the craft in new ways.”
She added that even with advanced technology, creating high-quality AI content requires ideas, taste, direction, judgment and time. “People remain at the heart of it,” van der Velden said, highlighting the human effort behind the AI project.
