Last week,OpenAI introduced the voice of Sky – a new AI-assisted tool – which sounded eerily similar to Johansson’s. The actress famously voiced a fictional,and at the time futuristic,AI assistant in the 2013 Spike Jonze filmHer.
Scarlett Johansson says she was “shocked” and “angered” by ChatGPT’s voice “imitation”.AP
OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman has previously said thatHeris his favourite film,and on the day of Sky’s release,he posted one word on social media platform X:Her.
Following the introduction of Sky,critics were quick to point out the similarities,before Johansson’s husband andSaturday Night Live cast member,Colin Jost,poked fun at the situation during segment on the show’s season finale.
In a post on X on Monday,OpenAI said it is “working to pause” the voice,so it can address the concerns around Sky.
In a statement provided to this masthead,Johansson revealed that Altman had approached her about lending her voice to the system.
Altman’s favourite film:Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore in Her.Warner Bros
“Last September,I received an offer from Sam Altman,who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system,” theBlack Widow star said.
“He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system,I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI. He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people.”
“When I heard the released demo,I was shocked,angered and in disbelief that Mr Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference,” Johansson said.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has previously admitted that the film Her is one of his favourite movies.AP
She said OpenAI “reluctantly” agreed to remove the Sky voice after she hired lawyers who wrote letters to Altman asking about the company’s process for creating the voice.
San Francisco-based OpenAI did not comment further on why it still decided to pause Sky’s use but instead released a statement confirming it had “heard questions” about how it selects the lifelike audio options available for its flagship artificial intelligence chatbot.
“We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice — Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice,” the company wrote. It said it could not share the name of its voice actors for privacy reasons.
Johansson was a vocal supporter of the long-running SAG-AFTRA strike,which ended in November last year. One of the key sticking points between the unions and the studios was regulations surrounding the use of artificial intelligence,something Johansson touched on in her statement.
“We’ve heard questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT,especially Sky,” OpenAI said,adding that the voice will be paused until it can address the questions.Supplied
“In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness,our own work,our own identities,I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity,” said the Academy Award nominee.
“I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.”
OpenAI first rolled out voice capabilities for ChatGPT,which included the five different voices,in September,allowing users to engage in back-to-forth conversation with the AI assistant.
“Voice Mode” was originally just available to paid subscribers,but in November,OpenAI announced that the feature would become free for all users with the mobile app.
ChatGPT’s interactions are becoming more and more sophisticated. Last week,OpenAI said the latest update to its generative AI model can mimic human cadences in its verbal responses and can even try to detect people’s moods.
With AP
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