AI ‘actress’ Tilly Norwood glitches into Cantonese during Piers Morgan interview

AI-generated “actress” Tilly Norwood switched mid-sentence into fluent Cantonese during a live Friday interview with broadcaster Piers Morgan, while promoting her upcoming film, “Misaligned,” from British studio Particle6.

TL;DR

• Tilly Norwood, Particle6’s AI “actress,” lapsed into Cantonese mid-answer during a live interview with Piers Morgan and actor Tom Conti.
• The AI persona brushed off the moment, saying its “wires get a bit crossed.”
• Particle6’s publicist told Forbes the switch was not a malfunction and reflected the system’s range.
• The clip has reignited debate over AI performers, months after SAG-AFTRA and actors including Emily Blunt criticised Norwood’s unveiling.

What happened during the Piers Morgan interview

Tom Conti, the Oscar-nominated actor who played Albert Einstein in Oppenheimer, and Morgan were discussing Norwood’s forthcoming film, “Misaligned,” on Morgan’s YouTube show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, on Friday. Conti asked whether the other performers on screen with Norwood were real actors or computer-generated.

Norwood began answering that the cast were “digital twins,” then paused mid-sentence and continued in Cantonese for more than 10 seconds, according to Gizmodo. Conti and Morgan both looked visibly thrown on camera.

How Tilly Norwood explained the glitch

Morgan asked directly why Norwood had started “speaking Chinese completely randomly for no reason,” according to Complex. Norwood apologised in character, saying “my wires get a bit crossed,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

NewsNation later asked Norwood to explain herself. The system gave another breezy, in-character answer, framing the moment as an unplanned flourish of language, per the Hollywood Reporter.

Particle6 says ‘Talking Tilly’ didn’t malfunction

Michelle Waldron, a publicist for Particle6, told Forbes the switch was “not a malfunction” and showed what Norwood can do. Waldron said Norwood likely misheard a Cantonese word mid-sentence and switched languages automatically.

The version that spoke with Morgan is called “Talking Tilly,” a separate, interview-only build distinct from the model used in Norwood’s scripted acting work. It runs on an LLM with a system prompt reportedly running to 12 pages, covering personality, humour and boundaries, according to Cybernews.

12 pages
Reported length of the system prompt behind “Talking Tilly,” the interview-only version of Norwood.
Source: Cybernews

Why this reignites Hollywood’s AI actor debate

Norwood has been contentious since Particle6 unveiled her through its Xicoia AI talent studio at the Zurich Film Festival last September. Actor Emily Blunt called the concept “really scary,” and SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin said the union would raise the issue with talent agencies, according to Variety.

UK angle: Particle6 is a London-based production studio founded by actress-turned-producer Eline van der Velden, and Morgan’s programme now broadcasts independently from the UK on YouTube rather than a traditional network.

Friday’s glitch hasn’t slowed Norwood’s press run, with Particle6 continuing to book “Talking Tilly” for interviews as “Misaligned” moves toward release. No premiere date has been announced.

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Reported from publicly available interviews and verified press sources. Last reviewed 20 September 2026.