AI Actress 'Tilly Nowood' Switches to Chinese Mid-Interview on Pierce Morgan Show

The AI character 'Tilly Nowood,' marketed as the world's first AI actress, unexpectedly switched to speaking Chinese mid-interview on the Pierce Morgan Show, interrupting a conversation with veteran British actor Tom Conti before reverting to English.

Conti had asked during the interview whether other cast members in Nowood's debut film were human or AI-generated. Nowood began answering in English but briefly continued in Chinese for several seconds before returning to English, calling it a 'small mistake.' Morgan addressed the incident live on air.

Pierce Morgan Unscripted released a two-minute clip of the interview on Friday, announcing the full interview would air at 7 p.m. BST. Rather than apologize for the error, Nowood's team actively leveraged the moment to promote a paid chat product based on her character.

Nowood was created by London-based production company Particle6 and its AI talent division Sycoia, both operated by Dutch producer Ellyn van der Belden. She debuted at the 2025 Zurich Film Festival in the film 'Misanthropy,' which explores an AI entity that injects human desires into robots.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) has refused to endorse Nowood since her debut, representing American actors. Van der Belden insists Nowood is not meant to replace humans but is an artistic creation. Actor Emily Blunt urged agencies to abandon the project.

This incident occurs amid growing public debate over synthetic media. In July, cryptocurrency media Bitcointist reported that Coinbase faced criticism for an AI error during a World Cup match broadcast. Meanwhile, AI video startups continue to attract investment, reaching a $540 million valuation.