Scarlett Johansson, a popular Hollywood actress, expressed her horror and indignation at OpenAI’s debut of a chatbot that had a voice that was “eerily similar” to her own.
In a statement provided to NPR, Johansson claims that she has been “compelled to hire legal counsel” and that she has written two letters to OpenAI asking for information on the creation of the ChatGPT voice-alike, Sky.
The Sky voice, debuted by OpenAI, bore a striking resemblance to Johansson’s dematerialized AI partner in Spike Jonze’s 2013 film “Her.”
The voice was provided by another actor, according to the corporation, which announced that it would “pause” its usage.
“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 in a blog post.
“To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talents.”
According to Johansson, Altman made her an offer to work as the ChatGPT 4.0 system’s voice last September. She stated that she turned down the offer due to “personal reasons.”
“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.
“I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected,” Johansson wrote.
Since OpenAI introduced ChatGPT’s speech mode in September of last year, Sky’s voice has been available.
However, it wasn’t immediately evident how this related to Johansson until OpenAI presented a revised AI model last week, which improved voice realism.
We earlier reported that Universal Music Group, UMG, has announced its strategic alliance with the global streaming music provider, Spotify.
