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OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show

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Re: OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show

#401

Post by sanderjd »

DeathArrow wrote: post #159
chipweinberger wrote: post #121

People see what they want to see. If it wasn't for us being biased by the surrounding circumstances I don't think people would have confused their voices. Their voices are not that similar. I probably personally know people with a voice as similar to SJ as Sky's. You probably do too. The voice actress says the same: "I’ve never been compared to her by the people who do know me closely." But then suddenly a story emer…

>People see what they want to see. Sounds like a female. Sounds like a white person. Sounds like between 30 and 40. It must be SJ.

If she were not the voice actress in the smash hit movie that their product is directly inspired by, then this would be a great point!

Re: OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show

#403

Post by naasking »

Terretta wrote: post #378
naasking wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So its: ask Johansson, get declined, ask casting directors for the type of voice actors they are interested in, listened to 400 voices, choose one that sounds like the actor Except it doesn't sound like Johansson, I don't know why people keep saying this. At best, the voice has a couple of similar characteristics, but I didn't think for one second that it was her. Can James Earl Jones sue if someone uses a voice ac…

If I play the voices back to back, nobody thinks they're the same person. If I ask which one is SJ, people that have seen her films know, those who don't, don't. (Hint, only one sounds hoarse like early smoker voice and self-assured even in the 'Her' role, only one sounds impossibly 2020s valley girl chipper and eager to please.) Sure seems like all the dogpiling last week either didn't do a basic listen or ignored i…

> only one sounds impossibly 2020s valley girl chipper and eager to please.

I immediately thought "grade school teacher", although I was listening to the clip where she was telling a story.

Re: OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show

#404

Post by afavour »

omnicognate wrote: post #171

Comments full of people reading the headline and assuming that what OpenAI did here is fine because it's a different actress, but that's not how "Right of publicity" (*) laws work. The article itself explains that there is significant legal risk here: > Mitch Glazier, the chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, said that Johansson may have a strong case against OpenAI if she brings forth a l…

I’ll admit that my cynicism is in overdrive but I wonder if OpenAI deliberately provoked this. Or at least didn’t mind it as an outcome.

More and more you see legal action as a form of publicity (people filing frivolous lawsuits etc), a lawsuit like this would help keep OpenAI looking like an underdog startup being crushed by the rich and powerful rather than the billion dollar entity it actually is.

Re: OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show

#405

Post by latexr »

naasking wrote: post #364
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> later go to a famous actress known for one time playing a chatbot in a movie, and are declined, you are in a much better position But they asked her first!: "Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system. He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel co…

> So its: ask Johansson, get declined, ask casting directors for the type of voice actors they are interested in, listened to 400 voices, choose one that sounds like the actor Except it doesn't sound like Johansson, I don't know why people keep saying this. At best, the voice has a couple of similar characteristics, but I didn't think for one second that it was her. Can James Earl Jones sue if someone uses a voice ac…

> Except it doesn't sound like Johansson, I don't know why people keep saying this.

Would you ever say “except strawberries aren’t tasty, I don’t know why people keep saying this”?

Maybe it doesn’t sound like Johansson to you, but it does sound like her to a lot of people. Worse, evidence points to Altman wanting you to make that connection. It’s trying to sound like her performance in one specific movie.

Re: OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show

#406

Post by cthalupa »

naasking wrote: post #364
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> later go to a famous actress known for one time playing a chatbot in a movie, and are declined, you are in a much better position But they asked her first!: "Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system. He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel co…

> So its: ask Johansson, get declined, ask casting directors for the type of voice actors they are interested in, listened to 400 voices, choose one that sounds like the actor Except it doesn't sound like Johansson, I don't know why people keep saying this. At best, the voice has a couple of similar characteristics, but I didn't think for one second that it was her. Can James Earl Jones sue if someone uses a voice ac…

I've been saying this for days, and I'm pretty firmly in the OpenAI critic camp.

The only reason people think it sounds like her is because they've biased themselves into it because of all the context surrounding it.

Re: OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show

#407

Post by JCM9 »

skilled wrote: post #18

The thing that worried me initially was that: - the original report by Scarlett said she was approached months ago, and then two days prior to launch of GPT-4o she was approached again Because of the above, my immediate assumption was that OpenAI definitely did her dirty. But this report from WaPo debunks at least some of it, because the records they have seen show that the voice actor was contacted months in advance…

Sounds more plausible that someone pointed out to them internally they could be in a heap of trouble if Scarlett objected after they released it. It doesn’t matter if it was actually her voice or not it matters if people think it was her voice. If someone pointed this out late in the process than yeah there would have been a mad scramble to get Scarlett to sign off. When she didn’t then that put them in a bad spot.

Re: OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show

#408

Post by bmitc »

DoctorOetker wrote: post #375
naasking wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So its: ask Johansson, get declined, ask casting directors for the type of voice actors they are interested in, listened to 400 voices, choose one that sounds like the actor Except it doesn't sound like Johansson, I don't know why people keep saying this. At best, the voice has a couple of similar characteristics, but I didn't think for one second that it was her. Can James Earl Jones sue if someone uses a voice ac…

Also looking from the perspective of the lesser known voice actress, does Scarlett Johansson have the right to trample the lesser known voice artists future job opportunities by intimidating her previous employers? Imagine being a potential future employer of the lesser known artist, would you dare hire her in the face that Johansson's lawyers might come after you? Is this lesser known voice artist now doomed to find…

> Also looking from the perspective of the lesser known voice actress, does Scarlett Johansson have the right to trample the lesser known voice artists future job opportunities by intimidating her previous employers?

This is weird, if not bizarre. Scarlett didn't do anything. Literally no action besides saying no. Then a company decides to impersonate her and use her performance in a movie as implicit marketing for a product. That's the company's problem, not hers.

Re: OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show

#409

Post by andrewstuart »

Does Altman really think that was the goal, to “win”?

To defeat Scarlett Johanssen?

The point is it’s the wrong thing to do, regardless of whether or not he can legally get away with it.

No wonder Silicon Valley’s reputation for ethical behavior is in the toilet.

Re: OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show

#410

Post by naasking »

latexr wrote: post #405
naasking wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So its: ask Johansson, get declined, ask casting directors for the type of voice actors they are interested in, listened to 400 voices, choose one that sounds like the actor Except it doesn't sound like Johansson, I don't know why people keep saying this. At best, the voice has a couple of similar characteristics, but I didn't think for one second that it was her. Can James Earl Jones sue if someone uses a voice ac…

> Except it doesn't sound like Johansson, I don't know why people keep saying this. Would you ever say “except strawberries aren’t tasty, I don’t know why people keep saying this”? Maybe it doesn’t sound like Johansson to you , but it does sound like her to a lot of people. Worse, evidence points to Altman wanting you to make that connection. It’s trying to sound like her performance in one specific movie.

> Maybe it doesn’t sound like Johansson to you, but it does sound like her to a lot of people.

I guarantee you that nobody who's ever heard her voice actually thinks that, go on:

https://x.com/chriswiles87/status/1792909936189378653

> Worse, evidence points to Altman wanting you to make that connection. It’s trying to sound like her performance in one specific movie.

There is no such evidence.

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