The Black Widow fame Scarlett Johansson has accused OpenAI of making a voice for the ChatGPT system that sounded "eerily similar" to her own after she turned down the opportunity to voice the chatbot herself.
The statement came shortly after OpenAI announced it was removing the voice, named 'Sky.'
The firm's CEO Sam Altman in an email told Reuters on Monday that Sky's voice wasn't mimicking Scarlett Johansson's, rather it belonged to another professional actress.
"The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson's, and it was never intended to resemble hers. We cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson," Altman said.
"Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky’s voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn’t communicate better," he added.
In Hollywood, the debate over actors' rights to their voices and likenesses has intensified as studios explore AI for entertainment. With computer-generated images and sounds closely resembling humans, distinguishing them has become difficult.
Johansson in the statement said Altman had asked her in September to voice a ChatGPT, but she turned down the offer.
"Nine months later, my friends, family and the general public all noted how much the newest system named 'Sky' sounded like me," she said.
"When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference," she added.
Johansson said Altman also hinted at intentional similarity by referencing "Her," the 2013 movie where she voiced an AI assistant.
Her message was shared by journalists from NPR and other news outlets, and her publicist also sent it to Reuters. She mentioned seeking legal advice regarding the voice creation process.
Scarlett Johansson. Image Source: Gage Skidmore
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