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

washingtonpost.com

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

#571

Post by pseudosavant »

nicce wrote: post #442
JCharante wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The voice was called Sky and OpenAI wasn't using her likeness to promote the voice or product. She isn't that well known, I didn't even know she was in Her. There's 1 billion English speakers, there are going to be voice overlaps.

The issue is that they contacted her and advertised based on her. They clearly wanted it to sound like her. Now, that it sounded like her, there is a reason to make conclusions about OpenAI's real motives.

How did they advertise this as being SJ? It is worth pointing out that Sky kind of sounded like the voice from Her, not SJ. The voice in Her is a voice SJ did for that movie. It isn’t her normal speaking voice. Does she get to own the likeness of every kind of voice she’s made, or could make?

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

#572

Post by danielbln »

junon wrote: post #138
Strawberry76 wrote: post #105

I think it's pretty obvious that OpenAI had decided at an early stage that the new voice should resemble the voice of SJ in "Her", regardless of which voice actresses they then contacted and in which sequence.

Yeah this seems pretty clear to me too. The voice was also overtly horny, way more so than the others are. I say this as a gay man - I was uncomfortable listening to her talk about ISA specifications like she had a fetish for them. Seemed like an easy "pop culture" win akin to Cortana / Halo and Pacific Rim / GladOS.

As a hetero man, I didn't get the overtly homeyness out of that voice, maybe somewhat flirtatious at most. Are you maybe projecting?

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

#573

Post by freejazz »

serial_dev wrote: post #34
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…

I don't know, to me, it's just sounds like they know how to cover all their bases. To me, it sounds like they had the idea to make their AI sound like "her". For the initial version, they had a voice actor that sounds like the movie, as a proof of concept. They still liked it, so it was time to contact the real star. In the end, it's not just the voice, it would have been the brand, just imagine the buzz they would h…

> they gave it another go, probably ready to offer more money, she still refused, but in the end, it didn't change a thing.

That's not what she said happened. She said they released it anyway before she and Sam could connect, after Sam had reached out, for the second time, two days prior to the release.

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

#574

Post by realce »

JCharante wrote: post #355
nicce wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not about the voice. Rather using the fame of known actress to boost the product. If your inner motive is to sound like her because she is well-known, differences in voice does not matter much.

The voice was called Sky and OpenAI wasn't using her likeness to promote the voice or product. She isn't that well known, I didn't even know she was in Her. There's 1 billion English speakers, there are going to be voice overlaps.

"She isn't that well known"

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/scarlett-johansson-tops-l...

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

#575

Post by johnbellone »

pavlov wrote: post #13
jrockway wrote: post #10

I was perusing some Simpsons clips this afternoon and came across a story to the effect of "So and so didn't want to play himself, so Dan Castellaneta did the voice." It's a good impression and people didn't seem very upset about that. I am not sure how this is different. (Apparently this particular "impression" predates the Her character, so it's even easier to not be mad about. It's just a coincidence. They weren't…

Surely there’s some kind of difference between “voice impression for a two-line cameo in one episode of an animated sitcom” and “reproducing your voice as the primary interface for a machine that could be used by billions of people and is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.” Is there a name for this AI fallacy? The one where programmers make an inductive leap like, for example, if a human can read one book to lear…

Fair use[1]

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

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

#576

Post by jes5199 »

newaccount74 wrote: post #224
justeoghan wrote: post #163

I never comment on HN I’ve just always been a long time lurker but I feel like I’m going crazy here reading comments. SJ is not the “AI” portrayed in the movie her. And AFAIK she does not in fact have all the same idiosyncrasies and tones in real life as the voice does in the movie because she was in fact directed to act like that. Not only that but the voices are not the same because there was another actress for sk…

> because she was in fact directed to act like that It's still Scarlet Johansons voice and acting. The same role with the same lines read by different actors would be very different. Imagine for example that they would have cast Tilda Swinton for Samantha. Even with the same script it would probably end up a very different character. Actors aren't interchangeable. It's very clear that OpenAI was trying to make ChatGP…

in fact, the movie was originally recorded with Samantha Morton doing the voice of the AI, but she was replaced with Johansson last minute!

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

#577

Post by DustinBrett »

We are getting into the details of what is copying. If you can find someone with the identical voice who is a different person, is that all it takes? It seems to me the intention was to hire someone who sounded like the character from Her.

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

#578

Post by whycome »

pc86 wrote: post #553
dbreunig wrote: post #505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This shows how bad it is. If you're proactively sharing a package of docs with the Washingington Post, you're toast. Altman's outreach, his tweet, and the thousands of tweets and comments talking about how similar Sky is to ScarJo is enough to win the case in California.

Then we can add this to the long list of insane lawsuits going the wrong way in California. They asked SJ, she said no. So they went to a voice actor and used her. Case closed, they didn't use SJ's voice without her permission. That doesn't violate any law to any reasonable person.

This has echoes of Crispin Glover and Back to the Future 2. They didn't rehire him and got someone else to play his character.

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

#579

Post by GaggiX »

DustinBrett wrote: post #577

We are getting into the details of what is copying. If you can find someone with the identical voice who is a different person, is that all it takes? It seems to me the intention was to hire someone who sounded like the character from Her.

The voices are not identical tho.

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

#580

Post by nilamo »

Uehreka wrote: post #520
ActionHank wrote: post #487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This will be used as a template by the entertainment industry to screw over so many people.

How? This kind of thing is already illegal. If I’m producing a commercial for Joe’s Hot Dogs, and I hire a voice actor who sounds like Morgan Freeman, and he never says “I’m Morgan Freeman” but he’s the main voice in the commercial and the cartoon character he’s voicing looks like Morgan Freeman… well, many consumers will be confused into thinking Morgan Freeman likes Joe’s Hot Dogs, and that’s a violation of Morgan…

Which part of that is illegal? Because I don't see anything.
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