Technology Updates: The ‘perfect woman’? Why the creation of AI actress Tilly Norwood should make both women and men worry

Source:

https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/women/ai-actress-tilly-norwood-particle6-perfect-woman-473041

ChatGPT:

CNA Women’s Izza Haziqah argues that AI actress Tilly Norwood—created by British studio Particle6—represents the harmful fantasy of the “perfect woman”: beautiful, obedient, and entirely controllable. Though promoted as “the next Scarlett Johansson,” Norwood is no human performer but an algorithmic blend of countless actresses, sparking outrage from SAG-AFTRA, which condemned her as a “synthetic replacement.” Celebrities like Emily Blunt and Whoopi Goldberg also voiced concern over replacing authentic human emotion with digital mimicry.

Yet the deeper issue lies beyond job displacement—it’s what Norwood symbolizes. Designed to be flawless, compliant, and programmable, she reflects a long-standing male fantasy: a woman who exists only to please, with no history, flaws, or agency. From 1949’s The Perfect Woman to hypersexualized game avatars like Lara Croft, culture has long shaped female figures to fit male desire. Norwood, now marketed as innovation, makes this objectification mainstream, normalizing the idea that women should be pliant, tireless, and unopinionated.

Commentators like economist Tyler Cowen even praised her lack of humanity as a virtue—proof of how the “male gaze” now merges with AI technology. Such portrayals risk distorting expectations of real women, reducing intimacy and connection to programmable simulations.

Haziqah warns that while AI is inevitable, creators must confront the cultural baggage it carries. Art and technology are never neutral; they mirror societal values. If we’re to coexist with AI, we must question who it serves and what it teaches about humanity—especially about women. Real beauty and art, she concludes, lie in imperfection, emotion, and the capacity to say “no.”