Scarlett Johansson has accused OpenAI of creating a voice for its ChatGPT system that sounds “eerily similar” to hers after she declined to voice the chatbot.
On Monday, Johansson made these claims in a statement shortly after OpenAI announced it was removing the voice, named ‘Sky.’
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman clarified that Sky’s voice was not an imitation of Johansson. He stated the voice belonged to a different professional actress.
Altman emphasized, “Sky’s voice is not Scarlett Johansson’s and was never meant to resemble hers. We cast the voice actor before reaching out to Ms. Johansson.”
“Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky’s voice in our products. We apologize for not communicating better,” Altman added.
This issue highlights the growing focus in Hollywood on the rights to actors’ voices and images as studios explore AI in entertainment. AI-generated images and sounds are becoming harder to distinguish from real ones.
Johansson revealed that Altman had offered her the role last September, which she declined.
“Nine months later, friends, family, and the public all noted how much Sky sounded like me,” she stated.
“When I heard the demo, I was shocked and angered that Mr. Altman would choose a voice so similar to mine that even my closest friends couldn’t tell the difference.”
Johansson claimed Altman hinted at the similarity intentionally by referencing “Her,” a 2013 movie where Johansson voiced an AI assistant.
Johansson’s statement was shared by NPR and other news outlets. Her publicist also confirmed it to Reuters.
She mentioned hiring legal counsel to investigate the voice creation process.
Recently, OpenAI introduced its latest AI model, GPT-4o, featuring audio capabilities that enable real-time AI conversations, marking a significant step towards more realistic AI interactions.