Scarlett Johansson was “shocked, angered and in disbelief” after OpenAI used a voice “eerily comparable” to hers for his or her new GPT-4o chatbot even after she declined the corporate’s request to lend her voice.
The 39-year-old actress revealed that OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, reached out to her in September, 2023, asking if they might use her voice for his or her new GPT-4o system as a result of he discovered it “comforting.”
“Final September, I obtained a suggestion from Sam Altman, who wished to rent me to voice the present ChatGPT 4.0 system,” the Hollywood star stated in a press release to NBC Information. “He advised me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I may bridge the hole between tech corporations and creatives and assist shoppers to really feel snug with the seismic shift regarding people and AI. He stated he felt that my voice can be comforting to folks.”
Scarlett Johansson launched a press release concentrating on OpenAI for his or her use of a voice “eerily comparable” to hers for his or her new GPT-4o chatbot
“…My buddies, household and most of the people all famous how a lot the most recent system named ‘Sky’ gave the impression of me,” the Marvel icon stated.
“Once I heard the launched demo, I used to be shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily just like mine that my closest buddies and information retailers couldn’t inform the distinction,” she added.
As GPT-4o was unveiled, OpenAI’s Sam tweeted one phrase: “her,” which was perceived as a reference to Spike Jonze’s 2013 film Her, by which Scarlett stars as a voice robotic
“Mr. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single phrase ‘her’ – a reference to the movie by which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who types an intimate relationship with a human,” she added.
“Two days earlier than the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was launched, Mr. Altman contacted my agent, asking me to rethink. Earlier than we may join, the system was on the market,” she went on to say.
Regardless of turning down their request, the 39-year-old actress accused OpenAI of utilizing “a voice that sounded so eerily just like mine”
“Because of their actions, I used to be compelled to rent authorized counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAI, setting out what they’d carried out and asking them to element the precise course of by which they created the ‘Sky’ voice. Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the ‘Sky’ voice.”
The award-winning star stated she is in search of some type of decision by transparency and likewise wished acceptable laws to be handed with respect to the problem.
Scarlett Johansson stated in her assertion that she wished “decision within the type of transparency and the passage of acceptable laws”
“In a time once we are all grappling with deepfakes and the safety of our personal likeness, our personal work, our personal identities, I consider these are questions that deserve absolute readability. I look ahead to decision within the type of transparency and the passage of acceptable laws to assist be certain that particular person rights are protected,” her assertion continued.
The AI-driven tech firm put out a tweet that stated they’re pausing the usage of Sky following the “questions” raised.
“We’ve heard questions on how we selected the voices in ChatGPT, particularly Sky. We’re working to pause the usage of Sky whereas we tackle them,” the corporate stated.
In mild of the controversy, the corporate CEO Sam Altman claimed the chatbot’s voice belonged to a different skilled actress
Simply obtained this assertion from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in regards to the Scarlett Johansson voice controversy. pic.twitter.com/doMadaTsY0
OpenAI additionally stated in a Might 19 assertion that Sky’s voice belongs to a different skilled actress.
“We consider that AI voices mustn’t intentionally mimic a star’s distinctive voice—Sky’s voice isn’t an imitation of Scarlett Johansson however belongs to a distinct skilled actress utilizing her personal pure talking voice. To guard their privateness, we can’t share the names of our voice skills,” the corporate stated.
YouTuber Victor Mochere uploaded a clip that he stated was the Hollywood star’s assertion learn out by Sky’s voice
The AI developer’s CEO additionally claimed the artist who supplied their voice for Sky was solid earlier than Scarlett was contacted with the request.
“The voice of Sky isn’t Scarlett Johansson’s, and it was by no means supposed to resemble hers,” Sam reportedly stated through a spokesperson.
“We solid the voice actor behind Sky’s voice earlier than any outreach to Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we’ve paused utilizing Sky’s voice in our merchandise,” he stated. “We’re sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn’t talk higher.”
With the revolution of AI, some folks consider this challenge is simply the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to identification safety
