Scarlett Johansson accuses OpenAI of making ChatGPT sound like her: Shock and disbelief
Scarlett Johansson accuses OpenAI of using her voice for ChatGPT AI ‘Sky’, sparking controversy over voice imitation. OpenAI clarified that Sky’s voice belongs to another actress, ensuring privacy. Johansson calls for legislation to protect portraits and individuals’ rights, as OpenAI apologizes for communication errors
accused OpenAI of taking her voice for a new ChatGPT AI called “Sky”, even though she turned down the company’s offer. The artificial intelligence company announced on Monday that it had decided to “pause” the Sky feature after many questions about the voice feature.
“We’ve received many questions about how we choose voices in ChatGPT, especially Sky.
In a statement to US news outlet Variety, Johansson said she was contacted by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in September 2023 about the company hiring her to voice ChatGPT 4.0 but she declined the offer. for “personal reasons”.
“When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angry, and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice so uncannily similar to mine that my closest friends and agents,” Johansson said. The press can’t tell the difference either.”
“Mr. Altman even hinted that the resemblance was intentional, tweeting the single word ‘she’ – a reference to the movie in which I voiced the chat system, Samantha, who forms a relationship. intimate relationships with humans,” she added.
On Monday, OpenAI also published a blog post in which the company said that Sky’s voice was not Johansson’s impersonation but that of another professional actress.
“We believe that an AI voice should not intentionally imitate the distinctive voice of a famous person. Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to another professional actress using her own natural voice.
“To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talent,” the company posted.
Johansson, 39, also revealed that Altman contacted her agent two days before the release of the ChatGPT 4.0 demo and urged her to reconsider the decision.
“Two days before the demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my representative, asking me to reconsider. Before we could connect, the system became inoperable. Due to the actions of them, I was forced to hire legal counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAI, outlining what they had done and asking them to detail the exact process by which they created the voice. says ‘Sky’. As a result, OpenAI has reluctantly agreed to remove the ‘Sky’ voice,” she said in the statement. .
Johansson also called for legislation to protect individuals from misuse of their name, image or likeness.
“In a time when we are all grappling with deepfake and protecting our own likeness, our work, our identity, I believe these are questions that need absolute clarity.
“I look forward to a transparent resolution and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected,” she wrote.
When asked to comment on the matter, Altman, in another statement, reiterated that the voice the company used for Sky belonged to another actor and had nothing to do with Johansson.
“We recruited a voice actor to voice Sky before approaching Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have temporarily stopped using Sky’s voice in our productions. We apologize to Ms. Johansson for we did not communicate better,” the statement read.
