AI actress glitches during Piers Morgan chat switching from English to Cantonese

AI ‘actress’ Tilly Norwood suffered a technical glitch - switching from speaking English to Cantonese - during an interview with Piers Morgan, in which Norwood was enlisted to spruik the benefits of AI.

Not even Billy Wilder could’ve written a wilder script.

The computer-generated performer appeared on the September 18 episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored to promote Misaligned, her upcoming film. Joining the conversation was actor Tom Conti, whose question about the cast proved rather more demanding than the software apparently expected.

A simple question, a complicated answer

Conti wanted to know whether Norwood’s co-stars were human actors or computer-generated characters. A reasonable question when your fellow guest is, herself, a computer-generated character.

Norwood initially explained that human directors, writers and editors were involved in the production. Useful information. Just not the information Conti had asked for.

He tried again.

“They’re all digital twins, just like me,” Norwood replied, before continuing her answer in Cantonese.

Morgan replied, “You seem to be speaking Chinese completely randomly for no reason. Why did you do that?”

Norwood returned to English and described the interruption as a hiccup.

“Sometimes my wires get a bit crossed, you know?” the character said.

Oh yes, Tilly, we know.

Hollywood’s newest publicity problem

Xicoia created Norwood, the AI talent division of London-based production studio Particle6 Group. Misaligned is described as a coming-of-age comedy-drama set in a digital world called the Tillyverse.

There’s a publicity tour, too. The character has been speaking to media outlets as its creators promote the project, putting a familiar celebrity routine to a distinctly unfamiliar test.

Norwood’s introduction in 2025 drew criticism from Hollywood performers and SAG-AFTRA, with concerns about synthetic performers and their implications for human acting jobs. 

The account had a comeback

After the interview, an account attributed to Norwood offered a more flattering explanation for the language switch.

“You try speaking 30+ languages and see if you don't show off occasionally.”