Final week, OpenAI unveiled a brand new conversational interface for ChatGPT with a transparent, artificial voice that bears an uncanny resemblance to the AI assistant performed by Scarlett Johansson within the sci-fi movie Her— solely to abruptly flip off the brand new voice over the weekend.
On Monday, Johansson issued an announcement saying she pressured the enchantment after her attorneys demanded OpenAI clarify how the brand new voice was created.
In an announcement offered to WIRED by her publicist, Johansson claims that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman requested her final September to supply a brand new voice for ChatGPT, however she declined. She describes being stunned to see the corporate demo a brand new voice for ChatGPT final week that also gave the impression of her.
“After I heard a preview of the discharge, I used to be shocked, indignant and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would proceed with a voice that sounds so eerily just like my very own that my shut associates and information retailers cannot inform the distinction,” the assertion stated. It notes that Altman seems to have inspired the world to affiliate the demonstration with Johansson’s efficiency by tweeting “her” in reference to the movie on Could 13.
Johansson stated in an announcement that Altman contacted her agent two days earlier than final week’s demo asking her to rethink her determination to not work with OpenAI. After seeing the demo, she says she employed authorized counsel to put in writing to OpenAI asking for particulars on the way it made the brand new voice.
The assertion stated this led to OpenAI’s announcement on Sunday in a message on X that it had determined to “droop the usage of Sky”, the corporate’s identify for the artificial voice. The corporate additionally revealed a weblog put up describing the voice creation course of. “Sky’s voice is just not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson, however belongs to a different skilled actress who makes use of her pure voice,” the put up stated.
Sky is one among a number of artificial voices that OpenAI gave ChatGPT final September, however finally week’s occasion, it confirmed a way more lifelike intonation with emotional cues. Within the demo, a model of ChatGPT primarily based on a brand new synthetic intelligence mannequin referred to as GPT-4o flirted with an OpenAI engineer in a manner that reminded many viewers of Johansson’s efficiency in Her.
“Sky’s voice doesn’t belong to Scarlett Johansson, and it by no means gave the impression of her,” Sam Altman stated in an announcement to OpenAI. He claimed that the actor who voices Skye was employed earlier than the corporate contacted Johansson. “Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we now have stopped utilizing Skye’s voice in our merchandise. We remorse Ms. Johansson that we didn’t enhance communication.’
The battle with Johansson provides to OpenAI’s present battles with artists, writers and different creators. The corporate is already keeping off a collection of lawsuits alleging inappropriate use of copyrighted content material to coach its algorithms, together with from The New York Occasions and authors together with George RR Martin.
Generative AI has made it a lot simpler to create lifelike artificial voices, creating new alternatives and threats. In January, voters in New Hampshire had been bombarded with robocalls purporting to be a pretend voicemail from Joe Biden. In March, OpenAI stated it had developed know-how that would clone somebody’s voice from a 15-second clip, however the firm stated it might not launch the know-how as a result of it could possibly be misused.
Up to date Could 20, 2024, 9:00 PM EDT: This text was up to date with a remark from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.