Scarlett Johansson expressed shock and anger over OpenAI’s new AI voice, Sky, which she claims mimics her voice without her consent. This controversy has sparked a significant public outcry and legal action against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
In September 2023, Altman approached Johansson with an offer to lend her voice to the ChatGPT 4.0 system. However, Johansson declined the offer due to personal reasons. Despite this, when the demo of the system was released, Johansson and many others noticed a striking resemblance between her voice and Sky’s voice.
Johansson’s concerns were further fueled by Altman’s social media post that insinuated the similarity was intentional. The post contained a single word, “her,” which is a reference to a 2013 film where Johansson voiced a chat system that forms an intimate relationship with a human.
In response to the controversy, OpenAI has paused the use of Sky’s voice out of respect for Johansson. The company maintains that Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Johansson’s but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice.
Johansson has called for legislation that would protect individuals from having their name, image, or likeness misappropriated. She believes these are questions that deserve absolute clarity and look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.
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