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Scarlett Johansson Says OpenAI Ripped Off Her Voice for ChatGPT

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Re: Scarlett Johansson Says OpenAI Ripped Off Her Voice for ChatGPT

#21

To me that voice never sounded like her. Even when I try to listen as if it is really her talking. The voice in the movie 'Her' was very distinct. Not this one though. What about the voice of actress who actually did lend her voice for Sky? Can she claim that this is her voice?

Did you read the part where they approached her to "license" the voice up until days before release? Plausible deniability would be a lot more believable if that wouldn't have been the case.

Re: Scarlett Johansson Says OpenAI Ripped Off Her Voice for ChatGPT

#23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>OpenAI said. “To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talents.” Not sure the angle there though? If I was the voice actor I'd love for them to share my name, maybe lead to other gigs.

Yes ut would be the first time I’d see an actor refusing to be credited for their work.

No way, you can easily get the internet outrage machine pointed at you in this situation.

Re: Scarlett Johansson Says OpenAI Ripped Off Her Voice for ChatGPT

#24
I don't actually see an ethical issue with this situation, unless the voice was specifically trained using clips of Scarlett Johansson's actual voice.

I should have some say over how my actual voice is used. If I am a public figure, ala Donald Trump, and there are a lot of people out there who do a great impression of me, those voices belong to the people actually creating them, not me.

If it turns out that there are people out there who either naturally sound like Scarlett Johansson, or who can alter their voice so that they sound like her, they should have the freedom to profit from their own talents (natural or otherwise).

If the resulting AI voice isn't actually claiming to be Johansson and isn't trained using her actual voice, I don't see anything wrong with it.

Re: Scarlett Johansson Says OpenAI Ripped Off Her Voice for ChatGPT

#25
post #6

A snippet from that article. ---- Johansson’s statement, relayed to WIRED by her publicist, claims that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman asked her last September to provide ChatGPT’s new voice but that she declined. She describes being astounded to see the company demo a new voice for ChatGPT last week that sounded like her anyway. “When I heard the release demo I was shocked, angered, and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pur…

"Sky" voice has been available since September though, OpenAI met with the "Sky" voice actress in June and July, months before contacting Scarlett Johansson.

https://www.npr.org/2024/05/20/1252495087/openai-pulls-ai-vo...

> Johansson said that nine months ago Altman approached her proposing that she allow her voice to be licensed for the new ChatGPT voice assistant. He thought it would be "comforting to people" who are uneasy with AI technology.

> Just two days before the new ChatGPT was unveiled, Altman again reached out to Johansson's team, urging the actress to reconsider, she said.

I can't imagine they were asking repeatedly including just two days before the demo for funsies. Plus...

> OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who has said the 2013 Spike Jonze film is his favorite movie, invited comparisons by posting the word "Her" on X after the company announced the new ChatGPT version.

Re: Scarlett Johansson Says OpenAI Ripped Off Her Voice for ChatGPT

#26

To me that voice never sounded like her. Even when I try to listen as if it is really her talking. The voice in the movie 'Her' was very distinct. Not this one though. What about the voice of actress who actually did lend her voice for Sky? Can she claim that this is her voice?

>OpenAI said. “To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talents.” Not sure the angle there though? If I was the voice actor I'd love for them to share my name, maybe lead to other gigs.

The angle of why they would want to protect the voice actor's privacy? My guess is that their fear is people becoming attached to the voice in a sort of parasocial relationship, then seeking out the original voice actor to try and turn that parasocial relationship into something more.

Re: Scarlett Johansson Says OpenAI Ripped Off Her Voice for ChatGPT

#27

A snippet from that article. ---- Johansson’s statement, relayed to WIRED by her publicist, claims that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman asked her last September to provide ChatGPT’s new voice but that she declined. She describes being astounded to see the company demo a new voice for ChatGPT last week that sounded like her anyway. “When I heard the release demo I was shocked, angered, and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pur…

They're going for a style, just because SJ declined, should not mean they cannot pursue something similar. The fact they went to SJ in the first place means they had good intentions of getting a well founded voice.

Likely a voice professional can detect clear differences, as it's not convincing to be SJ from an outsider.

Re: Scarlett Johansson Says OpenAI Ripped Off Her Voice for ChatGPT

#28
A voice cannot be copyrighted. Altman was being courteous and professional by trying to sign a deal with her. But, he didn't have to and could have used a variation of her voice.

>The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson's, and it was never intended to resemble hers,” Altman told Forbes in a statement. “We cast the voice actor behind Sky's voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson.

>Days before OpenAI demonstrated its new, flirty voice assistant last week, the actress Scarlett Johansson said, Sam Altman, the company’s chief executive, called her agent and asked that she consider licensing her voice for a virtual assistant.

>It was his second request to the actress in the past year, Ms. Johansson said in a statement on Monday, adding that the reply both times was no.

Re: Scarlett Johansson Says OpenAI Ripped Off Her Voice for ChatGPT

#29
post #24

I don't actually see an ethical issue with this situation, unless the voice was specifically trained using clips of Scarlett Johansson's actual voice. I should have some say over how my actual voice is used. If I am a public figure, ala Donald Trump, and there are a lot of people out there who do a great impression of me, those voices belong to the people actually creating them, not me. If it turns out that there are…

The biggest problem is that they were making insinuations that it was intentionally similar to her role in the movie Her (and even contacted her directly to do it).

There are laws for unauthorized use of likeness that could possibly apply here.

Re: Scarlett Johansson Says OpenAI Ripped Off Her Voice for ChatGPT

#30
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>OpenAI said. “To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talents.” Not sure the angle there though? If I was the voice actor I'd love for them to share my name, maybe lead to other gigs.

The angle of why they would want to protect the voice actor's privacy? My guess is that their fear is people becoming attached to the voice in a sort of parasocial relationship, then seeking out the original voice actor to try and turn that parasocial relationship into something more.

Excellent point, I had not thought of that.
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