Scarlett Johansson expressed shock and anger after an AI voice created by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI which developed ChatGPT, sounded eerily similar to her own voice.
Altman had previously offered Johansson to lend her voice to ChatGPT’s system, but she declined for personal reasons. However, when OpenAI released a demo of their new AI assistant named “Sky”, many noted how uncannily alike it sounded to Johansson’s voice from the movie “Her” where she voiced an AI named Samantha.
Altman even tweeted the single word “her”, seemingly acknowledging the intentional similarity. Just before the demo’s release, he reached out again for Johansson to reconsider providing her voice officially.
Feeling angered by the apparent imitation, Johansson hired legal counsel to demand OpenAI explain how they created Sky’s voice so close to her own. OpenAI eventually agreed to take down the Sky demo voice.
In her statement, Johansson cited concerns over deepfakes and protecting individuals’ likenesses and identities. She called for transparency from OpenAI and appropriate legislation to safeguard personal rights regarding AI mimicking real people’s voices or appearances without consent.
The controversy highlights unresolved ethical issues as AI capabilities rapidly advance in replicating humans’ unique traits and characteristics.