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Scarlett Johansson ‘shocked and angered’ after OpenAI allegedly recreated her voice without consent | Science & Tech News

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6 months ago

May 23, 2024

Scarlett Johansson 'shocked and angered' after OpenAI allegedly recreated her voice without consent | Science & Tech News

Scarlett Johansson has stated she was “shocked” and “angered” after OpenAI allegedly recreated her voice with out her consent for a brand new ChatGPT system.

The actress personally criticised the corporate’s CEO Sam Altman for insinuating she was the voice named ‘Sky’ by posting the phrase “her” on X, a reference to a movie the place she voiced an AI which a human fell in love with.

Mr Altman approached the 39-year-old Oscar nominee to voice the present ChatGPT 4.0 system final September however Johansson declined for private causes, she stated in a press release.

“He advised me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I might bridge the hole between tech corporations and creatives and assist customers to really feel comfy with the seismic shift regarding people and AI. He stated he felt that my voice can be comforting to folks.”

Despite the fact that she declined the provide, 9 months later, Johansson’s consideration was drawn to how a lot OpenAI’s Sky voice appeared like her.

“Once I heard the launched demo, I used to be shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily much like mine that my closest mates and information retailers couldn’t inform the distinction,” Johansson stated.

On 13 Could, Mr Altman posted the phrase “her” on X, which Johansson stated was an indication the similarity was intentional. The actress claimed it was a reference to a 2013 movie – referred to as Her – the place she voiced a chat system that types an intimate relationship with a human, performed by Joaquin Phoenix.

Mr Altman’s publish has now been seen by greater than 10.2 million folks and stays on his X feed.

“Two days earlier than the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was launched, Mr Altman contacted my agent, asking me to rethink. Earlier than we might join, the system was on the market.”

OpenAI has now paused the controversial voice “out of respect for Ms Johansson”, based on Mr Altman in a press release on Tuesday. The corporate gives 5 voices that may communicate generated solutions by way of its ChatGPT service.

Nonetheless, the tech large denied Sky was ever primarily based on the actress’s voice.

“The voice of Sky will not be Scarlett Johansson’s, and it was by no means supposed to resemble hers,” stated Mr Altman.

“We forged the voice actor behind Sky’s voice earlier than any outreach to Ms Johansson.”

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In a weblog publish, the corporate detailed its course of for selecting voice actors, saying it obtained greater than 400 submissions from display screen and voice actors when it was creating its voices in 2023.

It stated it seemed for a spread of voices that have been from various backgrounds, really feel “timeless”, have been “approachable”, “heat, participating, confidence-inspiring, charismatic voice with wealthy tone” and have been straightforward to take heed to.

After deciding on 5 actors in Could 2023, the corporate stated it flew them to San Francisco for recording classes after which launched their voices into ChatGPT in September 2023.

The synthetic intelligence (AI) firm stated it finds deepfakes unacceptable and is working to stop its artificial voices from copying these of actual folks. Deepfakes are digital imitations of individuals made to look real looking utilizing AI.

Scarlett Johansson’s assertion in full

Final September, I obtained a suggestion from Sam Altman, who needed to rent me to voice the present ChatGPT 4.0 system.

He advised me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I might bridge the hole between tech corporations and creatives and assist customers to really feel comfy with the seismic shift regarding people and AI.

He stated he felt that my voice can be comforting to folks.

After a lot consideration and for private causes, I declined the provide.

9 months later, my mates, household and most of the people all famous how a lot the latest system named “Sky” appeared like me.

Once I heard the launched demo, I used to be shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily much like mine that my closest mates and information retailers couldn’t inform the distinction.

Mr Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single phrase “her” – a reference to the movie during which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who types an intimate relationship with a human.

Two days earlier than the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was launched, Mr Altman contacted my agent, asking me to rethink. Earlier than we might join, the system was on the market.

Because of their actions, I used to be compelled to rent authorized counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr Altman and OpenAI, setting out what they’d finished and asking them to element the precise course of by which they created the “Sky” voice. Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the “Sky” voice.

In a time after we are all grappling with deepfakes and the safety of our personal likeness, our personal work, our personal identities, I imagine these are questions that deserve absolute readability.

I look ahead to decision within the type of transparency and the passage of applicable laws to assist be sure that particular person rights are protected.

The US display screen actor’s guild, SAG-AFTRA, supported Johansson, placing out a press release saying their members “are among the many most gifted and infrequently most recognisable folks on the planet”.

“That’s the reason we’re strongly championing federal laws that might defend their voices and likenesses – and everybody else’s as properly – from unauthorised digital replication,” stated a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson.

The New York Instances sued OpenAI on the finish of final 12 months over allegations it, and its largest investor Microsoft, unlawfully used the newspaper’s articles to coach and create ChatGPT.

The swimsuit alleges that the AI textual content mannequin now competes with the newspaper as a supply of dependable data and threatens the flexibility of the organisation to supply such a service.