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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

#591

Post by talldayo »

wyldfire wrote: post #582

Evil genius territory. When the offer was declined by scarjo, they could still train on her works of art and just hire a soundalike to make recordings regardless of whether they used it during training. Then, at release time - either they get the buzz of artist-licensed "Her" or they get the buzz /outrage/Streisand of unlicensed "Her". Even if they take it down, OpenAI benefits. I feel like the folks who fear the tec…

There's not a lick of genius to it. Sam Altman wasn't willing to compromise on his vision and had to change things after-the-fact because he was threatened.

For me to believe this was genius I'd have to see some actual response from Sam. From the outside-looking-in, it appears that he was caught with his pants down when Jonhansson said no and went ahead even though he was rejected a second time and obviously knew it was the wrong choice. There's no Streisand effect at play here, OpenAI already owned the news cycle with their 4o announcement and could have kept it quiet. But Sam just had to have his One More Thing, and now he's getting his just deserts.

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

#592

Post by pseudalopex »

hooloovoo_zoo wrote: post #304
pseudalopex wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bette Midler and Tom Waits didn't control their songs when they sued the companies.

But it makes it more likely that the listener will associate the commercial with the artist than just using the voice.

The Midler v. Ford decision said her voice was distinctive. Not the song.

OpenAI didn't just use a voice like Scarlett Johansson's. They used it in an AI system they wanted people to associate with AI from movies and the movie where Johansson played an AI particularly.[1][2]

[1] https://blog.samaltman.com/gpt-4o

[2] https://x.com/sama/status/1790075827666796666

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

#595

Post by underlogic »

Cheer2171 wrote: post #551
IncreasePosts wrote: post #535

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disregarding the cases settled out of court (which have nothing to do with case law): 1) Tom Waits vs Frito-Lay: Frito-Lay not only used a soundalike to Tom Waits, but the song they created was extremely reminiscent of "Step Right Up" by Waits. 2) Bette Midler vs. Ford Motor Company: Same thing - this time Ford literally had a very Midler-esque singer sing an exact Midler song. 3) Beastie Boys vs. Monster Energy: Mon…

> Does Scarlett Johansson have a distinct enough voice that she is instantly recognizable? It absolutely is if you've seen /Her/. It even nails her character's borderline-flirty cadence and tone in the film.

Actually until recently I thought the voice actor for "her" was Rashida Jones

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

#596

Post by XorNot »

ethbr1 wrote: post #348
ants_everywhere wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, totally ethically bankrupt. But what bewilders me is that they yanked it as soon as they heard from their lawyers. I would have thought that if they made the decision to go ahead despite getting two "no"s, that they at least had a legal position they thought was defensible and worth defending. But it kind of looks like they released it knowing they couldn't defend it in court which must seem pretty bonkers to in…

> I would have thought that if they made the decision to go ahead despite getting two "no"s, that they at least had a legal position they thought was defensible and worth defending. They likely have a legal position which is defensible. They're much more worried that they don't have a PR position which is defensible. What's the point of winning the (legal) battle if you lose the war (of public opinion)? Given the res…

How is the PR position not defensible? One of the worst things you can generally do is admit fault, particularly if you have a complete defense.

Buckle in, go to court, and double-down on the fact that the public's opinion of actors is pretty damn fickle at the best of times - particularly if what you released was in fact based on someone you signed a valid contract with who just sounds similar.

Of course, this is all dependent on actually having a complete defense of course - you absolutely would not want to find Scarlett Johannsen voice samples in file folders associated with the Sky model if it went to court.

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

#597

Post by acomjean »

thatoneguy wrote: post #436
nickthegreek wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This statement from scarlet really changed my perspective. I use and loved the Sky voice and I did feel it sounded a little like her, but moreover it was the best of their voice offerings. I was mad when they removed it. But now I’m mad it was ever there to begin with. This timeline makes it clear that this wasn’t a coincidence and maybe not even a hiring of an impressionist (which is where things get a little more w…

At least in past court cases I’m familiar, you can’t use an impersonator and get people to think it’s the real thing. It’s not like Tom Waits ever wanted to hock chips https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-09-me-238-st...

Or Bette Midler singing for ford. She turned them down. They used a sound alike, she sued and won

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midler_v._Ford_Motor_Co.

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

#598

Post by wraptile »

xbmcuser wrote: post #573

The more I find out about Altman the more I agree with the previous board about removing him. The guy just feels sleazy to me. Though he is doing what I want and that is not giving a fuck about artificial monopolies granted by government ie copyright

The board reinstating Altman was what broke the camels back to me. It showed that the board is completely powerless and that Altman is simply a liar.

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

#599

Post by neilv »

tony_cannistra wrote: post #541
neilv wrote: post #412

Isn't OpenAI mostly built upon disregarding the copyright of countless people? And hasn't OpenAI recently shown that they can pull off a commercial coup d'état, unscathed? Why would they not simply also take the voice of some actress? That's small potatoes. No one is going to push back against OpenAI meaningfully. People are still going to use ChatGPT to cheat on their homework, to phone-in their jobs, and to try to…

> No one is going to push back against OpenAI meaningfully. Couldn't, perhaps, one of the more famous people on Earth be responsible for "meaningfully" taking OpenAI to task for this? Perhaps even being the impetus for legislative action?

And allied with an army of other artists.

If they tell the story of OpenAI, in a way that reaches people, that would be a triumph of the real artists, over the dystopian robo-plagiarists.

I love it already.

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