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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

#611

Post by GaggiX »

TechRemarker wrote: post #602

When the original news broke, I don’t think the assumption was ever they actually used her voice as of course they would be sued instantly. But rather they wanted her especially after her Her movie, but of course to be safe first got another woman to record one that would sound very similar and then later ask Johansson to hopefully get her instead. She said no so they tried one more time before releasing and she stil…

"Sky" voice has been available for 8 months now, they didn't ask for Scarlett Johansson voice several times before releasing it.

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

#612

Post by akaru »

This article is a paid hit-piece. Trumpian language and all: “people are saying—very good people, the best people—that the voice wasn’t copied. It was a perfect call.” It is so obvious that her voice was stolen, and they are paying to try to cover it up.

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

#613

Post by glenstein »

rangerelf wrote: post #606
glenstein wrote: post #528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a best practice that serves as a healthy counterbalance to cognitive biases, that might otherwise urge us to convict without evidence. It's not necessarily what will prove true at the end of the day but I think we owe people the presumption of innocence.

Is it necessarily a bad bias to assume OpenAI is still behaving as it's been behaving during its entire history: recklessly taking other people's IP?

I think the way I would split the difference here is that your point should inform how we think about regulation and investigation. How we write rules, how we decide to proceed in terms of investigating things.

But when it comes to specific questions that hinge on evidence, I think you have to maintain the typical presumption of innocence, just to balance out the possibilities of mob psychology getting out of control.

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

#614

Post by dilap »

m_ke wrote: post #535
stavros wrote: post #526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which one are we saying sounds like Johansson? I'm talking about the TTS voice in the app, is everyone else talking about the multimodal voice from the 4o demos? Also, whether they *intended* to replicate Her and whether they *did* in the end are very different.

This one: https://youtu.be/vgYi3Wr7v_g?feature=shared&t=22 compare it to: https://youtu.be/GV01B5kVsC0?feature=shared&t=125

Thank you for providing a nice side-by-side. This makes it clear to me the voices are not very similar at all. If Johansson had agreed, I have to imagine they would've been able to make a much closer (and less annoying!) voice.

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

#615

Post by dllthomas »

manishsharan wrote: post #590
dragonwriter wrote: post #583

Hiring a different voice artist might show that they didn't use deepfake technology to imitate Johansson’s voice, but it absolutely doesn't prove that the voice isn't an imitation and one for which they would have been liable under existing law.

exactly . when you cover an artist on your show, you have to take permission first. I am not a copyright expert, but I do own a few of Weird Al albums and he is very diligent about obtaining permissions from artists he is covering.

> Weird Al albums and he is very diligent about obtaining permissions from artists he is covering.

IIUC, Weird Al probably doesn't need permission for his parodies, legally speaking. He does get it anyway.

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

#616

Post by moi2388 »

comfysocks wrote: post #70
moi2388 wrote: post #22

Yes, how dare another woman have a voice that might somewhat sound like Scarlett?

Can’t really fault the voice actor for having a specific voice. The question is whether or not OAI traded on the similarity to Scarlet Js likeness. The “her” tweet raises suspicions.

Even if they did. How does that matter?

Let’s say I want to shoot a movie. Id love to have Scarlett star in it. But I can’t afford her, so I hire some b actress that kind of looks like her. What’s wrong with that?

The only way I could see this being wrong is if they then processes the voice of this different person to make it sound more like Scarlett.

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

#617

Post by busterarm »

ChildOfChaos wrote: post #591
throwawaymaths wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's because scarlett's voice is pretty generic white upper middle class woman with a hint of vocal fry, and a slight hint of california (pretty typical given pervasiveness of media from california). She's not exactly gilbert gottfried or morgan freeman.

Now I'm just sad that it doesn't respond in a flirty Gilbert Gottfried style voice.

I heard this comment in my mind in a flirty Gilbert Gottfried voice.

Thank you for the laughter.

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

#618

Post by sib »

monocasa wrote: post #588
pc86 wrote: post #553

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Likeness rights are a real thing, and it's not out there to have infringed on them by going to a famous person to use their likeness, getting denied, then using another actor telling them to copy the first actor's likeness. This is why all Hollywood contracts have actors signing over their likeness in perpetuity now; which was one of the major sticking points of the recent strikes.

>> "then using another actor telling them to copy the first actor's likeness"

Assumes facts not in evidence

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

#619

Post by BeetleB »

m_ke wrote: post #535
stavros wrote: post #526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which one are we saying sounds like Johansson? I'm talking about the TTS voice in the app, is everyone else talking about the multimodal voice from the 4o demos? Also, whether they *intended* to replicate Her and whether they *did* in the end are very different.

This one: https://youtu.be/vgYi3Wr7v_g?feature=shared&t=22 compare it to: https://youtu.be/GV01B5kVsC0?feature=shared&t=125

OK, I watched this expecting to be convinced.

I think they might have mimicked the style. The voice, though, is not even close. If I heard both voices in a conversation, I would have thought 2 different people were talking.

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

#620

Post by m348e912 »

ShrimpHawk wrote: post #610
nilamo wrote: post #580

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It's in the very article > He compared Johansson’s case to one brought by the singer Bette Midler against the Ford Motor Company in the 1980s. Ford asked Midler to use her voice in ads. After she declined, Ford hired an impersonator. The U.S. appellate courts ruled in Midler’s favor, indicating her voice was protected against unauthorized use.

There's a gray area. If Ford Motor Company hired an actor happened to sound a lot like Bette Midler using their normal speaking voice, Ford would have had a much better chance in defending their case.

As I understand it, that's essentially OpenAI's defense here.

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