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Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

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Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#51

I am really not liking this Sam guy and how he does things. He has an attitude of “my way and only my way, and I don’t care what you think or do”

This is pretty much quintessential founder behavior. I have had my run-ins with people like this, and the relationship is usually short lived. I do not drink the kool-aid, and question pretty much everything. These types of personalities are like oil and water and do not mix. You almost need a third person to act as a emulsifier to allow the oil&water to mix without separating.

An emulsifier role is a great way to put it. In basketball, that's the glue guy.

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#52

Well, this confirms that OpenAI have been shooting from the hip, not that we needed much confirmation. The fact that they repeatedly tried to hire Johansson, then went ahead and made a soundalike while explicitly describing that they were trying to make it be like her voice in the movie … is pretty bad for them.

It’s definitely sketchy (classic OpenAI) But my question is: is what they did actually illegal? Can someone copyright their own voice?

In the United States, likeness rights vary by state https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_rights

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#53
post #6

What are the chances that among 7 billion people in the world that there are always going to be 100 people that sound like you? If Sam Altman was going for a particular voice, there are probably 100 people that indistinguishably have that voice and it just becomes a question of a headhunt.

Trying to imitate her voice to get around paying her wouldn't be okay either. Waits vs. Frito Lay taught us that, if nothing else did. The question is whether people would think they were hearing Scarlett Johansson's voice when using that product, and the answer is yes, so they have to pay her to trade on her identity.

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#54

Incredibly stupid The wink wink at creating an AI girlfriend is so bizarre I guess we know who their target user base is

Worse than that, good luck positioning yourself as a paragon of "AI safety" when you can't even handle basic human business relationships honestly.

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#56

I think it’s interesting that Johansson chose to forgo substantial royalties and collaboration potential But it must feel pretty fucking weird and violatory when you spend your entire life thinking about how you are going to deliver certain lines and that’s your creative Body of work, and then for someone to just take that Voice and apply it to any random text that can be generated? I get why she wouldn’t want to let…

She choose to forego being a billion lonely guys AI girlfriend Not a bad call for someone already rich

> She choose to forego being a billion lonely guys AI girlfriend

To suggest that Johansson’s only appeal is to the opposite gender (and ‘lonely’ ones at that!) I think is myopic and reductive of her impact

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#59
post #2

Why do I feel like Sam's 'her' tweet pretty much gave Scarlett Johansson's legal counsel all the ammo they needed lol.

It probably made things worse, but the fact that they reached out to her to use her voice and she explicitly refused would be sufficient ammo I feel. (Not a lawyer of course).

Of course, Twitter continues to bring people with big egos to their own downfall.

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