GPT’s ‘Sky’ voice: Scarlett Johansson drops a bombshell

Actress Scarlett Johannson was “shocked” and “angered” upon listening to ChatGPT’s “Sky” voice, which some had likened to her personal. Johannson famously voiced a fictional digital assistant within the 2013 movie Her.

In a press release launched Monday, obtained by NBC Information, Johannson felt the comparisons had been apt and stated the Sky voice was “eerily related” to hers.

Crucially, she added that she’d acquired a suggestion final September from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to voice Sky — and that she declined the provide.

“He informed me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I may bridge the hole between tech firms and creatives and assist shoppers to really feel snug with the seismic shift regarding people and AI,” Johannson stated. “He stated he felt that my voice can be comforting to individuals.”

Previous to Johannson’s assertion, Open AI made this declare in a submit Sunday: “We imagine that AI voices shouldn’t intentionally mimic a star’s distinctive voice—Sky’s voice just isn’t an imitation of Scarlett Johansson however belongs to a special skilled actress utilizing her personal pure talking voice.”

Nonetheless, OpenAI introduced that very same day that it could cease utilizing Sky in its ChatGPT product till it resolved lingering points about its origins.

“We have heard questions on how we selected the voices in ChatGPT, particularly Sky,” the corporate wrote in a submit on X Sunday. OpenAI is “working to pause using Sky” whereas it addresses these questions.

“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 pals and information retailers couldn’t inform the distinction,” Johansson stated in her assertion.

The Sky voice has been round since OpenAI first launched Voice Mode in September of 2023 as one in all 5 choices to select from along with “Breeze”, “Cove”, “Ember”, and “Juniper”. However OpenAI’s announcement of GPT-4o, which brings these voice capabilities straight into the mannequin, solely makes use of Sky, thus casting a highlight on that specific voice.

In the course of the GPT-4o reside demo final week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman picked up on the comparisons to Scarlett Johansson. He posted the one phrase “her” on X.

Johansson stated in her assertion that Altman had contacted her agent, urging her to rethink his provide, two days previous to the demo launch. She stated they by no means linked earlier than the system debuted, and that she employed authorized counsel in consequence.

Johansson claimed that OpenAI “reluctantly” agreed to pause the Sky voice, following her counsel’s request for detailed details about how Sky was created.

“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,” Johansson stated. “I look ahead to decision within the type of transparency and the passage of acceptable laws to assist make sure that particular person rights are protected.”

Cecily Mauran contributed to this story.