“We’ve heard questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT, mainly Sky. We are working to pause use of Sky while we address it,” OpenAI reported via X late Sunday evening local time.
In a blog article, the company assured that the voice of “Sky”, which communicates with Internet users, was developed based on the voice of a voice actress, and not that of Scarlett Johansson.
“We believe that AI voices should not deliberately imitate the signature voice of a celebrity. Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson, but belongs to another professional actress using her own natural speaking voice,” OpenAI said in the article. The actress’ name will not be disclosed for privacy reasons, it said.
Not so voluntarily
However, after those statements from OpenAI, American media reported on Monday that the pause and clarification about the voice did not come so voluntarily. This happened at the request of Scarlett Johansson, according to a statement from the actress. (Read more below the post)
“Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current Chat GPT 4.0 system,” says Johansson. “He told me that he felt that by giving the system a voice, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers feel comfortable with the dramatic shift around people and AI. He said he felt like my voice would be reassuring to people. After much deliberation and for personal reasons, I declined the offer.”
“Nine months later, my friends, family and the general public all commented on how much the latest system called ‘Sky’ looked like me,” says Johansson. “When I heard the demo, I was shocked, angry, and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and the press couldn’t hear the difference. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word ‘her’ – a reference to the film in which I portray a chat system, Samantha, who enters into an intimate relationship with a human.” (Read more below the post)
Johansson provided the voice for that AI assistant that a man falls in love with in the futuristic film Her (2013). Indeed, the comparison with that film was immediately made when OpenAI presented its new ChatGPT-4o last week, in which the AI voices seem to have more humanity. A flirty-sounding Sky was used for some demonstrations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted the word “her” on X on launch day. In a blog post, he said of ChatGPT-4o: “It feels like AI from the movies.”
“Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent and asked me to reconsider,” said Johansson. “Before we could connect, the system was already there.”
“As a result of their actions, I was forced to hire an attorney, who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAI, detailing what they had done and asking them to describe the exact process by which they acquired the ‘Sky’ voice had created. Then OpenAI reluctantly agreed to remove the ‘Sky’ voice,” says the actress.
“At a time when we are all struggling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identity, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity. I look forward to a solution in the form of transparency and the adoption of appropriate legislation to ensure that individual rights are protected,” Johansson concluded.
Previous legal action
In response, Sam Altman tells Verge that Sky’s voice is not Scarlett Johansson’s and was “never intended to sound like hers.” “We selected the voice actress behind Sky’s voice before approaching Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused the use of Sky’s voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we did not communicate better.”
In its previous blog post, OpenAI also stated that it supports the creative industry and pays real voice actors well. In addition, it was clearly explained to them what their voices would be used for and what the risks of AI are before the recordings started.
American actors and screenwriters went on strike for months last year, partly out of concern about the impact of AI on their work. Scarlett Johansson took legal action in November against an AI app, Lisa AI, that imitated her voice and appearance without her consent.