Scarlett Johansson has accused artificial intelligence company OpenAI of creating a voice assistant for their ChatGPT model that sounds “eerily similar” to hers, despite her declining an offer to participate. The actress expressed shock and disbelief upon hearing the voice named “Sky,” leading to OpenAI pausing the use of the assistant.
In a statement released on Monday, Johansson revealed that OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman approached her in September with an offer to have her voice ChatGPT’s assistant—a proposal she turned down. “Nine months later, my friends, family, and the general public all noted how much the newest system named ‘Sky’ sounded like me,” she stated. “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.”
OpenAI responded by stating that Sky’s voice was not an imitation of Johansson’s but was provided by a different professional actress. Altman said, “The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson’s, and it was never intended to resemble hers. We cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson.” He added, “Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky’s voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn’t communicate better.”
Johansson also mentioned that Altman had “insinuated that the similarity was intentional” by referencing the 2013 film Her, in which she voices an AI assistant that forms a relationship with a human. She has reportedly hired legal counsel to investigate the creation process of Sky’s voice.
The controversy emerges as OpenAI introduces its newest model, GPT-4o (short for “omni”), which is capable of reasoning across text, audio, and video in real-time. During a demonstration on May 13, GPT-4o showcased real-time conversation abilities, including adding emotions like “more drama” to its responses upon request. However, the model isn’t widely available yet.
The AI community and the public have expressed concerns over the ethical implications of using voices that closely resemble real individuals without consent. Critics have noted that some interactions with GPT-4o appeared to have a flirtatious tone. Desi Lydic, a senior correspondent on The Daily Show, commented on the model, saying, “This is clearly programmed to feed dudes’ egos. You can really tell that a man built this tech.”
This incident highlights ongoing debates over intellectual property rights and ethical considerations in the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence. As AI continues to evolve, questions about consent, imitation, and the use of personal likenesses are becoming increasingly pertinent.
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Scarlett Johansson said ChatGPT's 'Sky' voice 'eerily similar' to hers
cgtn.com
