Al Roker reacts to artificial intelligence on Today Show after Tilly Norwood interview

Lauren MartinezMon, September 14, 2026 at 4:35 PM UTC

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Al Roker had a blunt response to AI -Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited

The Today Show conducted a groundbreaking interview with AI actress Tilly Norwood during the Monday, September 14 broadcast, and Al Roker shared his assessment of the technology with a brief five-word comment.

The NBCmorning show, where Roker has been a fixture for three decades, featured the conversation with Norwood, an AI-created actress who emerged in 2025 and has sparked controversy in Hollywood due to the attention surrounding her.

Now, Roker, whose wife Deborah has previously commented on the ways their marriage isn't "easy," appeared to make a pointed remark and observation about the AI interview that had just been broadcast.

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Entertainment Correspondent Chloe Melas presented her conversation with Norwood, alongside her creator, Eline Van der Velden, to viewers and her co-host, which featured Norwood discussing her future in Hollywood, as well as Van der Velden addressing concerns about her.

Once the interview segment wrapped up, Melas then tackled the debate and anxiety surrounding AI performers like Norwood potentially displacing human workers, reports the Irish Star.

"We are very different, and it was pretty clear talking to Tilly that I was not speaking to a human being," Melas observed.

"Her voice was robotic, she was glitchy, she also repeated herself in answers, and I actually called and hung up with her a few times, and she would actually forget we had spoken," she added. "But I mean, overall she commented on my appearance, she saw what I was wearing and understood my surroundings behind me, but I don't think that she's coming for our jobs quite yet."

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Chloe Mejas confirmed that her interview made her feel more secure in her job

Laura Jarrett, who was standing in for Craig Melvin that day, then quipped, "Thank goodness."

However, as he made the wisecrack, Roker seemed to make his stance on AI abundantly clear.

"Yeah, I was going to say," he said. "It'll be nice when AI comes in to kill us all; it'll have a nice face."

The comment seemed to momentarily catch his co-hosts off guard, with Melas responding, "Well, then, Al," and Jarrett observing, "So reassuring."

The exchange occurred as AI faces unprecedented fresh warnings from some of those who helped create it, with executives from Anthropic and Google recently cautioning that the technology was advancing faster than anticipated, and advocating for a significant deceleration in the rollout of cutting-edge models to protect public welfare.

Roker commented that AI would 'kill us all' but with a "pretty face"

Despite these worries, Donald Trump has insisted that the United States would not pump the brakes on development, pointing to rivalry from China.

"We can put guardrails, we can do this and that, but I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that...shouldn't be bringing it up, and they're bringing up things that won't happen. But whoever wins with AI wins," he said at the time.

He subsequently reinforced his position on Truth Social, dismissing the concerns as a conspiracy theory. "The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ! ) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!" he wrote.

"We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies! There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”