Scarlett Johansson Thinks She Is Sam Altman&#8217;s &#8216;Her&#8217;
When OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted ‘her’ on X during the GPT-4o launch a few weeks ago, little did the world know that it would be cursed with Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson claiming to be one of the voices (Sky) in the demos. Poor Altman had no idea that his post would snowball into a controversy of this scale. In a statement on Monday, Johansson chastised the business and its CEO for using her voice without permission. Calling the voice “eerily similar”, the actress clarified that Altman had approached her in September and offered to engage her to speak in a ChatGPT voice – an offer she had declined. “He told me that he felt that by voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI. He felt my voice would be comforting to people,” the Jojo Rabbit star stated. After nine months, she said, everyone, including friends, family, and the general public, noticed how much the newest system, Sky, sounded like her. Following the uproar, OpenAI declared that it would stop using the voice, but did not give an explicit reason for the same in its statement. In a blog post, the company said the voice match was just a coincidence. According to OpenAI, Sky’s voice belongs to a “different professional actress”. AI voices “should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice”, it added. However, owing to privacy concerns, the company was unable to disclose the identity of the voice expert. Not Scarlett Johansson? The response from Open AI, including a blog detailing how the voices were developed, seems to directly answer Johansson’s questions. OpenAI began providing voice capabilities to its users for conversations with ChatGPT in September 2023. According to them, the five voices – Breeze, Cove, Ember, Juniper, and Sky – are samples from voice actors with whom the business collaborated during creation. Several characteristics were considered when selecting the vocals, such as having a “timeless” quality and “an approachable voice that inspires trust”. Over five months last year, OpenAI evaluated hundreds of voice submissions. Later, the selected performers flew to San Francisco for recording sessions, during which OpenAI used their voices to train its models. ‘Too Sissy’ Although most people haven’t had a chance to use these recently revealed features, the capabilities have prompted even more comparisons to Spike Jonze’s dystopian romance Her. The movie centres around an introverted man (Joaquin Phoenix) who develops feelings for an AI-operating system (Johansson), leading to several complications. The model’s demos last week sparked reactions from many who noticed that certain exchanges had an oddly amorous tone. Nick Pierre commented, “Am I the only one that gets the ick from how flirty this is?” Many joked that they had a new “girlfriend” or were being captivated by the AI voice. A few users described Sky as “flirty” and “provocative” in a flurry of posts on X. For instance, in a video shared by OpenAI, a female-voiced ChatGPT thanks an employee for “rocking an OpenAI hoodie”. In another, the chatbot responds to praise by saying, “Oh stop it, you’re making me blush.” This spurred discussion on the gendered approaches critics claim tech companies have long employed to create and interact with voice assistants. This practice predates the most recent wave of generative AI, which enhanced the capabilities of AI chatbots. Johansson’s comment also rakes up the whole issue of deepfakes and the preservation of personal identity, likeness, and labour. The continuing discussion concerning the moral implications of AI technology is beginning to take a significant turn now.
The response from Open AI, including a blog detailing how the voices were developed, seems to directly answer Johansson’s questions
When OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted ‘her’ on X during the GPT-4o launch a few weeks ago, little did the world know that it would be cursed
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["AI", "generative AI", "GPT-4o", "ChatGPT", "OpenAI", "Aim", "chatbots", "R", "Go", "Rust"]
Anshul Vipat is a tech aficionado, enthusiastic about the latest innovations in the digital world. He also holds keen interest in traveling, exploring and cooking