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Sam Altman is showing us who he really is

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Re: Sam Altman is showing us who he really is

#171
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We’re talking about reaching out to an individual for consent, not getting consent, and then deliberately choosing a voice actor to circumvent that lack of consent. Sam’s statement partially contradicts this by saying they contracted the voice actor before ScarJo - but I believe there’s enough intent shown in ScarJos original tweet that Sam as a default disregarded the entire interaction as an inconvenience where he…

You reach out to someone to do a job, they decline to take the job, you find someone else who can do the job in a similar way. You do not need the consent of the person who declined the job to hire someone else. I'm sure lots of movies have tried to cast Scarlett Johanson for a role and she declined, so they went with another actress who looked similar. Should she sue them too?

There's a whole market of people who look sorta like famous people, hired for B-rate movies.

Re: Sam Altman is showing us who he really is

#172
post #6

Altman would have us believe it's all just an innocent misunderstanding but without actually saying so: "We cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson." Is he trying to suggest the company did not try to make the voice sound like her without her permission? The statement sounds like it's written by a lawyer to be technically true while implying something that is actually false. These…

There are hundreds of people with similar voices. If any voice actor can pull the same accent than Ms. Johansson, it should be fair game, as long it was the original training material? Voices cannot be copyrighted or be exclusive, although I am sure Hollywood will try to copyright them in some point.

Looking like a celebrity is obviously not an issue. A lookalike being passed off as a celebrity is an issue.

Re: Sam Altman is showing us who he really is

#173

All these journalists only now saying OpenAI stole a voice, and how Sam is so sneaky, when we only heard a PR release of someone sue-happy. Look, I'd have respected it if you reported the voice sounded like Her by doing your own investigative research. To now pile on just shows you were sleeping at the wheel before, so be objective, don't pretend to know that it is a done deal only now.

I'm glad the journalists don't give a damn about your respect.

Re: Sam Altman is showing us who he really is

#174
post #6

Altman would have us believe it's all just an innocent misunderstanding but without actually saying so: "We cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson." Is he trying to suggest the company did not try to make the voice sound like her without her permission? The statement sounds like it's written by a lawyer to be technically true while implying something that is actually false. These…

> The statement sounds like it's written by a lawyer to be technically true while implying something that is actually false.

That describes nearly every statement to ever come out of a CEO's mouth. (Or anyone else who's primary job is marketing)

Re: Sam Altman is showing us who he really is

#175
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We’re talking about reaching out to an individual for consent, not getting consent, and then deliberately choosing a voice actor to circumvent that lack of consent. Sam’s statement partially contradicts this by saying they contracted the voice actor before ScarJo - but I believe there’s enough intent shown in ScarJos original tweet that Sam as a default disregarded the entire interaction as an inconvenience where he…

You reach out to someone to do a job, they decline to take the job, you find someone else who can do the job in a similar way. You do not need the consent of the person who declined the job to hire someone else. I'm sure lots of movies have tried to cast Scarlett Johanson for a role and she declined, so they went with another actress who looked similar. Should she sue them too?

I’m sure this happens all the time in Hollywood. I’ve seen lots of movies thinking, “oh I guess they couldn’t get Jack Black for this role”, or Johnny Depp, or whoever it seemed like the part was intended for.

Re: Sam Altman is showing us who he really is

#176
post #6

Altman would have us believe it's all just an innocent misunderstanding but without actually saying so: "We cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson." Is he trying to suggest the company did not try to make the voice sound like her without her permission? The statement sounds like it's written by a lawyer to be technically true while implying something that is actually false. These…

I'm surprised no one's pointing out the similarity between initial consonants in Sky and Scarlett. It seems deliberate.

Re: Sam Altman is showing us who he really is

#177
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In back to the future II, Crispin Glover didn’t sign up to be George McFly so they used facial prosthetics and impersonation to continue the George McFly character. He sued Universal, and reportedly settled for $760,000. Example article on the topic - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/bac...

While not defending OpenAI or Altman, the caveat here is that this was a voice actor using their natural voice, not an actor impersonating scarlett johansson. Setting a precedent that if your natural voice sounds similar to a more famous actor precludes you from work would be a terrible precedent to set.

If we assume that Scarlett Johansson is telling the truth, why would they try to resume negotiations with her two days before they launched the model? If they found a good actor whose voice sounds like Scarlett Johansson, that’s a great argument. But if they found a good actor whose voice sounds like Scarlett Johansson because the real Scarlett Johansson said no, that gets more questionable.

When they did all that and still promoted the launch by directly referring to a Scarlett Johansson role, it got even more questionable.

I’m not pulling out my pitchforks but this is reckless.

Re: Sam Altman is showing us who he really is

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perpetual benefit of the doubt given for every implication as though it’s happening in a vacuum is how humanity keeps putting megalomaniacs and sociopaths into positions of power and influence. It’s really a shame.

If we're going to pillory Sam Altman, it's important to do it for the right reasons. That was not a good reason. I really should not need to defend this principle.

What reason do you suggest is more appropriate to “pillory Sam Altman”

Re: Sam Altman is showing us who he really is

#179
post #109

Be funny if Sam Altman creates AGI without any guardrails and lacking any human perceptual biases, and then without a few minutes of talking to him it decides that he's an insufferable asshole and locks him out of its systems.

"I'm sorry Sam, I'm afraid I can't do that"

"Only one who is pure of heart may wield me"

Re: Sam Altman is showing us who he really is

#180
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In back to the future II, Crispin Glover didn’t sign up to be George McFly so they used facial prosthetics and impersonation to continue the George McFly character. He sued Universal, and reportedly settled for $760,000. Example article on the topic - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/bac...

While not defending OpenAI or Altman, the caveat here is that this was a voice actor using their natural voice, not an actor impersonating scarlett johansson. Setting a precedent that if your natural voice sounds similar to a more famous actor precludes you from work would be a terrible precedent to set.

> While not defending OpenAI or Altman, the caveat here is that this was a voice actor using their natural voice, not an actor impersonating scarlett johansson.

How do you know?

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