SAN SEBASTIAN, Sept 25: French actor Marion Cotillard has spoken about the growing use of artificial intelligence in entertainment, saying she is concerned about a future in which AI-generated performers could become convincing enough to emotionally affect audiences.
Cotillard made the remarks on Thursday, September 24, while attending the 74th San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain. She was there for the world premiere of Nicole Garcia’s 7h40 ce jour-là, which is competing in the festival’s official competition.
The discussion comes as artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly visible part of the film and television industries. AI-generated characters and digital performers have attracted attention from studios, technology companies, filmmakers and actors, while questions about creative ownership, employment and the use of performers’ likenesses remain part of the wider debate.
Cotillard said she was reassured that current AI-generated performances still appear limited to her. She also expressed concern about the possibility that the technology could eventually become sophisticated enough to make audiences believe they were watching a human performer.
Her comments were made against the backdrop of growing interest in virtual performers such as Tilly Norwood, an AI-generated entertainment figure developed by Particle6. Norwood has been presented as an AI actor and is associated with the upcoming hybrid film Misaligned.
Norwood’s development has already generated discussion in Hollywood because of questions surrounding the use of artificial characters and the potential effect on human performers. Particle6 has described Misaligned as a hybrid production involving human creative professionals and AI technology.
The company behind Norwood has also presented the project as an experiment in combining conventional filmmaking with artificial intelligence. According to IBC, Particle6 founder Eline van der Velden said the creation of Norwood involved a team of people working across writing, technology, character design and performance.
Norwood’s public appearances have added another dimension to the discussion. During an interview with Piers Morgan, the AI-generated character unexpectedly switched languages while responding to a question, an incident later described as a technical malfunction. The episode drew attention online and became an example of the limitations that can still appear when AI-generated personalities interact in real time.
The emergence of such digital personalities has prompted questions about what constitutes an actor. Traditional performers bring their own voices, physical expressions, experiences and interpretations to a character. AI-generated figures, by contrast, are created through digital systems and the work of teams developing their appearance, voice and personality.
The debate also involves the use of human creative material. The Los Angeles Times previously reported that some actors had expressed concern about AI characters being developed using human likenesses without appropriate permission or compensation.
The issue has become particularly relevant as entertainment companies explore ways to use AI in production. Supporters of the technology have pointed to its potential to create new forms of storytelling and reduce certain production requirements, while critics have raised concerns about creative control and the impact on human jobs.
Cotillard’s comments therefore come at a time when the industry is examining where the boundary between human performance and computer-generated entertainment should be drawn.
The actor was speaking in San Sebastian primarily to promote 7h40 ce jour-là, her latest French-language film directed by Garcia. The movie features Cotillard as Alice, a former revolutionary activist who is released after spending two decades in prison and attempts to rebuild her relationship with her son.
The role represents a very different form of performance from the technological debate surrounding AI actors. Cotillard’s character is built around lived experience, relationships and emotional change, with the story examining the consequences of choices made earlier in life.
The film’s presence at San Sebastian places Cotillard within one of Europe’s major film festivals, where artistic and technological questions surrounding cinema often intersect. The festival’s official competition includes 17 films competing for its top awards and concludes on September 26.
Cotillard is a veteran of international cinema and won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2008 for her performance as French singer Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. Her career has included French-language productions as well as major English-language films, making her comments on changes in acting particularly notable within the international film community.
The AI debate extends beyond the question of whether digital characters can reproduce facial expressions or voices. It also raises questions about audiences’ emotional relationship with performers. Human actors draw on personal interpretation and collaborative direction, while an AI character’s performance is generated through systems designed by humans.
That distinction may become increasingly difficult for audiences to identify if digital characters become more sophisticated. Cotillard’s concern centres on precisely that possibility: whether a future AI performance could create the same emotional response traditionally associated with a human actor.
The development of Tilly Norwood illustrates how quickly the issue is moving from theoretical discussion into entertainment projects. Norwood has already been presented publicly, participated in interviews and been linked to a feature film, although Misaligned has not yet received a confirmed release date.
The technology’s limitations have also become visible through public interactions. Norwood’s unexpected language switch during the Piers Morgan interview demonstrated that digital performers can still experience technical problems when responding outside controlled conditions.
At the same time, developers of AI entertainment figures argue that the technology can expand creative possibilities rather than simply replace conventional performers. Particle6 has described its work as a human directed AI production process involving writers, technologists and character specialists.
The disagreement between these perspectives is likely to continue as more AI-generated characters enter entertainment. The industry is still developing standards around consent, ownership, compensation and the use of digital likenesses.
For audiences, the issue may ultimately become less about whether AI can technically reproduce an actor’s appearance and more about how viewers understand performance itself. Whether digital characters can generate the emotional connection associated with human performers remains an open question.
Cotillard’s comments in San Sebastian have added a prominent actor’s perspective to that conversation. Her remarks underline the fact that AI is no longer only a technology-industry topic; it has become a direct issue for filmmakers, performers and audiences.
As cinema continues to incorporate artificial intelligence into production and storytelling, the relationship between technology and human performance is likely to remain an important subject of discussion across the global entertainment industry.