The marketing industry has spent years asking what will happen when artificial intelligence becomes convincing enough to hold a conversation. On Tuesday, several hundred people in Orlando found out — or at least got a preview that suggested the theoretical phase of the discussion may be ending.

Tilly Norwood, an AI-generated actress created by the production studio Particle6, appeared onstage at the Association of National Advertisers conference to discuss her own existence and, not incidentally, the future of brand marketing. Ms. Norwood, who debuted last year to what might charitably be described as a mixed reception from Hollywood, answered questions in real time while her image was projected behind the moderator, Mark Stenberg, who writes a newsletter about the media industry.

The setup required what Mr. Stenberg described as "a somewhat elaborate laptop arrangement," which is the kind of phrase that will sound charmingly antiquated in about eighteen months.

Ms. Norwood, who speaks quickly and does not pause to gather her thoughts (she has none to gather, in the traditional sense), proved to be an unusual interview subject. She finished sentences abruptly, offered no body language cues, and delivered most answers in under fifteen seconds. "I found myself looking for physical signals that, in many instances, did not appear," Mr. Stenberg said. (One imagines this is also the experience of attending certain agency pitch meetings.)

The AI's advice to the assembled marketers was notably unsycophantic. "Stop worrying about the tools and start focusing on the stories," she said. Asked about the backlash to her debut, she observed: "Nobody really hated me. They just hated the future."

Sarina Da Costa Gomez, the executive creative director at Particle6, who appeared alongside Ms. Norwood, explained that the company approaches her development as a kind of research project. "Every time a new model comes out, we use Tilly as a test bed," she said.

The question of whether AI performers will replace human ones remains, for now, mostly a question. But two years ago, as Mr. Stenberg noted, the technology could not reliably render the correct number of fingers on a hand. Ms. Norwood has all ten, and opinions besides.

Original story published in Adweek: "Tilly Norwood Tells All"