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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

#361

Post by [deleted] »

jacobolus wrote: post #190
threatofrain wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this different from the various videos of the Harry Potter actors doing comedic high fashion ads? Because those were very well received. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipuqLy87-3A

One is a company with a nearly $100 billion valuation using someone's likeness for their own commercial purposes in a large-scale consumer product, which consumers would plausibly interpret as a paid endorsement, while the other seems to be an amateur hobbyist nobody has ever heard of making a parody demo as an art project, in a way that makes it clear that the original actors had nothing to do with it. The context s…

[deleted]

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

#362

Post by JeremyNT »

signal11 wrote: post #110
aaronharnly wrote: post #11

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.

OpenAI claimed they hired a different professional actor who performed using her own voice [1]. If so, I suspect they’ll be okay in a court of law — having a voice similar to a celebrity isn’t illegal. It’ll likely cheese off actors and performers though. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/05/20/openai-sa...

Whether or not what they've done is currently technically illegal, they're priming the public to be pissed off at them. Making enemies of beloved figures from the broader culture is likely to not make OpenAI many friends.

OpenAI has gone the "it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission" route, and it seemed like they might get away with that, but if this results in a lot more stories like this they'll risk running afoul of public opinion and future legislation turning sharply against them.

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

#363

Post by z7 »

option wrote: post #171
MBCook wrote: post #58

I really hope she sues the company to hell and back. She has the resources to fight back and make an example of them, and they have the resources to make it worthwhile.

[flagged]

Very obvious bias against OpenAI in the comments here. Possible motives: a) there's a visceral human reaction against anyone extraordinarily successful and powerful (Nietzsche wrote about this). b) resentment for OpenAI's advancements in code generation and its possible impact on the job market. I don't think much of the outrage here is motivated by altruism, it's probably more about siding with whoever opposes your perceived enemy.

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

#364

Post by smt88 »

ncr100 wrote: post #246
andrewinardeer wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it sounded like Jodie Foster.

Scar Jo thought it sounded like herself, and so did people who knew her personally. That is what matters. OWNERSHIP over her contributions to the world.

I mostly agree with you, but I actually don't think it matters if it sounded exactly like her or not. The crime is in the training: did they use her voice or not?

If someone licenses an impersonator's voice and it gets very close to the real thing, that feels like an impossible situation for a court to settle and it should probably just be legal (if repugnant).

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

#366

Post by whynotminot »

whoknowsidont wrote: post #329
charlieyu1 wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why? Sounds like a violation to the rights of the sound actor

Because it's meant to give the _appearance_ or _perception_ that a celebrity is involved. Their actions demonstrate they were both highly interested and had the expectation that the partnership was going to work out, with the express purpose of using the celebrity's identity for their own commercial purposes. If they had just screened a bunch of voice actors and chosen the same one no one would care (legally or other…

Sounds like one of those situations you'd have to prove intent.

(and given the timeline ScarJo laid out in her Twitter feed, I'd be inclined to vote to convict at the present moment)

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

#367

Post by KHRZ »

voltaireodactyl wrote: post #292
avarun wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They clearly thought it was close enough that they asked for permission, twice. You seem to be misunderstanding the situation here. They wanted ScarJo to voice their voice assistant, and she refused twice. They also independently created a voice assistant which sounds very similar to her. That doesn't mean they thought they had to ask permission for the similar voice assistant.

You seem to be misunderstanding the legalities at work here: reaching out to her multiple times beforehand, along with tweets intended to underline the similarity to her work on Her, demonstrates intention. If they didn’t think they needed permission, why ask for permission multiple times and then yank it when she noticed? Answer: because they knew they needed permission, after working so hard to associate with Her,…

You could also ask: If Scarlett has a legal case already, why does she want legislation passed?

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

#368

Post by brandall10 »

bigfishrunning wrote: post #138
crimsoneer wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it's clearly not her voice right? The version that's been on the app for a year just isn't. Like, it clearly intending to be slightly reminiscent of her, but it's also very clearly not. Are we seriously saying we can't make voices that are similar to celebrities, when not using their actual voice?

It could be trained on Scarlett's voice though, there's plenty of recorded samples for OpenAI to use. It's pretty damning for them to take down the voice right away like that

Her statement claims the voice was taken down at her attorney's insistence.

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

#369

Post by minimaxir »

ncr100 wrote: post #246
andrewinardeer wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it sounded like Jodie Foster.

Scar Jo thought it sounded like herself, and so did people who knew her personally. That is what matters. OWNERSHIP over her contributions to the world.

More notably for legal purposes, there were several independent news reports corroborating the vocal similarity.

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

#370

Post by diego_sandoval »

hn_20591249 wrote: post #128
signal11 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OpenAI claimed they hired a different professional actor who performed using her own voice [1]. If so, I suspect they’ll be okay in a court of law — having a voice similar to a celebrity isn’t illegal. It’ll likely cheese off actors and performers though. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/05/20/openai-sa...

Seems like sama may have put a big hole in that argument when he tweeted "her", now it is very easy to say that they knowingly cloned ScarJo's likeness. When will tech leaders learn to stop tweeting.

It's also very easy to say that they were inspired by the concept of the movie, but the voice is different.
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