Scarlett Johansson “Angered” by OpenAI Chatbot Voice that sounds “strangely” like her

Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson said she was “shocked, angry and in disbelief” after Sam Altman’s OpenAI released a chatbot with a voice “eerily similar” to hers, according to a report in BBC. The actress said that she had already refused the company’s request for her voice to be used in its new ChatGPT 4.0 chatbot, which reads material aloud to users.

Since the AI ​​chatbot called Sky debuted last week, many users have been quick to draw parallels between the chatbot’s tone and that of Scarlett Johansson in the 2013 film ‘Her’.

OpenAI stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the AI ​​voice will be put on hold while the company responds to “questions about how we choose voices on ChatGPT.” Sky’s voice was “not an imitation” of Johansson’s, the company wrote in a blog post. They added that it was recorded by another professional actor, whose name they did not disclose to protect his privacy.

However, the ‘Marriage Story’ actor accused OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of copying his voice. She said in a statement: “Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system. He told me that he felt that by voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between technology companies and creatives and help consumers feel comfortable with the seismic shift towards humans and Al. He said he felt my voice would be comforting to people.

Johansson added that she turned down the offer, but was surprised to hear the demonstration. “When I heard the demo released, I was shocked, angry, and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would follow a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and media outlets didn’t notice the difference. Mr. Altman even hinted that the similarity was intentional, tweeting the single word “her” – a reference to the film in which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who forms an intimate relationship with a human.”

Johansson stated that circumstances “forced her to hire a lawyer” and as a result, her lawyer sent two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAI requesting an explanation of the process of creating the chatbot voice. She added that OpenAI then “reluctantly agreed” to remove voice from the platform.

“At a time when we are all fighting against deepfakes and protecting our own image, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are issues that deserve absolute clarity. of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected,” she said in her statement.

Meanwhile, Sam Altman said in a statement emailed to Reuters that Sky’s voice was not an imitation of Johansson, but belonged to a different professional actress. He said, “Sky’s voice is not Scarlett Johansson’s and was never intended to sound like hers. We chose the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any contact with Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused the use of Sky’s voice in our products. We apologize to Ms. Johansson for not communicating better.”