June Squibb Says Audiences “Can Tell” AI Characters Aren’t Human But “It’s Going To Happen”: “It Is Frightening”

With an onscreen career spanning 40 years and stage roles going back nearly 70, June Squibb is keeping an eye on the future of the industry amid AI advancements.

Although the Oscar-nominated actress said that audiences “can tell” AI creations are “not a human being,” she had a forward-thinking perspective on the technology amid Hollywood backlash to agency interest in AI character Tilly Norwood.

“Someone just recently told me they were trying to do something with my voice, and they went to an AI thing for vocal. And they said, ‘We couldn’t use it … it was so bland,’” recalled Squibb on the Today show.

“It is frightening, and I know actresses and actors are saying this,” she continued. “But also, it’s new and you can’t sit on this stuff. I mean, it’s going to happen, so I think we have to deal with it. But people will say it’s not a human being, they can tell.”

After AI talent studio Xicoia unveiled its first digitally generated “actor” Norwood at Zurich Film Festival’s summit, claiming multiple talent agencies are interested in representing the avatar, many actors have voiced their disapproval and even suggested a boycott of agencies that work with the AI creation.

While Xicoia founder and CEO Eline Van Der Velden claimed Norwood is “not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art,” SAG-AFTRA has come out against the creation in a statement, saying Norwood is “not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers – without permission or compensation.”

“SAG-AFTRA believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered,” SAG said in part. “The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.”