OpenAI argues with US actress Scarlett Johansson over an AI voice from the ChatGPT bot. Johansson thinks the bot sounds like her. OpenAI reacts – and lets the voice “pause”.
AI-controlled chatbots can not only write, but also talk to users. They should sound increasingly human and natural – that is the big goal of companies like OpenAI, the creators behind ChatGPT.
Last week, OpenAI presented updates about the chatbot – impressive, among other things, how fluently and naturally the bot can now speak to users – and that it manages to read a story, for example, with different intonations.
“Programmed by a man”
The female voice called Sky in particular attracted attention and ridicule. The reason, according to comedienne Desi Lydic on the Daily Show: She sometimes comes across as friendly or very sexy. “It’s clearly programmed by a man. She has all the information in the world, but she seems to say: ‘But I don’t know anything! Teach me, Daddy…'”
Some internet users said the voice resembled actress Scarlett Johansson. In the 2013 film “Her” she set an artificial intelligence named Samantha to music – the plot of the film: a man, played by Joaquin Phoenix, falls in love with this AI.
Johansson’s lawyers contact OpenAI
Apparently the comparison isn’t too far-reaching, because now Scarlett Johansson herself has spoken out: In a statement, Johansson says that OpenAI boss Sam Altman asked her last September to consider becoming one of the voices for ChatGPT. But she rejected the offer.
Now she has heard from friends and family members that the ChatGPT voice sounds a lot like her. Her lawyers contacted the company to have the voice deleted.
Not the first lawsuit over voice AI
Sky is one of five voices that the company offers; there are also Breeze, Cove, Juniper, and Ember. Sky has been unavailable since Monday – OpenAI wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that this voice is being paused for the time being.
The post went on to say that Sky was not an imitation, but belonged to another professional actress, whose name they did not want to mention for privacy reasons. She was selected in a casting.
Voices can now be copied very easily with the help of AI – recently a group of actors sued the AI company Lovo. The company is said to have used their votes without permission.
Katharina Wilhelm, ARD Los Angeles, tagesschau, 21.05.2024 09:21 a.m.