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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

#701

Post by mrbungie »

spuz wrote: post #306
anon373839 wrote: post #62

Well, that statement lays out a damning timeline: - OpenAI approached Scarlett last fall, and she refused. - Two days before the GPT-4o launch, they contacted her agent and asked that she reconsider. (Two days! This means they already had everything they needed to ship the product with Scarlett’s cloned voice.) - Not receiving a response, OpenAI demos the product anyway, with Sam tweeting “her” in reference to Scarle…

It's also worth noting that Sam Altman admitted that he had only used GPT4o for one week before it was released. It's possible that in the rush to release before Google's IO event, they made the realisation of the likeness of the voice to Scarlett Johansen way too late hence the last minute contact with her agent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMtbrKhXMWc

The "Sky" voice and it's likeness to SJo's have been there in the ChatGPT app for months.

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

#702

Post by a_wild_dandan »

apantel wrote: post #641
jahewson wrote: post #620

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not illegal, because this would be a civil case. But they’re on thin ice because there’s a big difference between “creating something like Her” and “creating something like Scarlet Johansson’s performance in Her”.

Creating something like Her is creating something like Scarlet Johansson’s performance of her. The whole point is to hit the same note, which is a voice and an aesthetic and a sensibility. That’s the point! She wasn’t willing to do it. If they hit the same note without training on her voice, then I think that’s fair game.

Yeah, influential people shouldn't get to functionally own a "likeness." It's not a fingerprint. An actor shouldn't credibly worry about getting work because a rich/famous doppelganger exists (which may threaten clientele).

Explicit brand reference? Bad. Circumstantial insinuation? Let it go.

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

#703

Post by dclowd9901 »

alsodumb wrote: post #2

Why do I feel like Sam's 'her' tweet pretty much gave Scarlett Johansson's legal counsel all the ammo they needed lol.

They’ll make the case that the abilities of the device is what he was referring to, but I think more the fact they were pushing her so hard for her involvement will actually be the damning aspect for them with that line of defense.

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

#705

Post by ben_w »

lawn wrote: post #633
ocodo wrote: post #560

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Altman has proven time and again that he is little more than a huckster wrt technology, and in business he is a stone cold shark. Conman plain and simple.

You'd think that Worldcoin would be enough proof of what he is but I guess people missed that memo.

Much as I dislike crypto, that's more of "having no sense of other people's privacy" (and hubris) than general scamminess.

It's a Musk-error not an SBF-error. (Of course, I do realise many will say all three are the same, but I think it's worth separating the types of mistakes everyone makes, because everyone makes mistakes, and only two of these three also did useful things).

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

#706

Post by jesterson »

svachalek wrote: post #606
wraptile wrote: post #589

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not going to lie, he had me. He appeared very genuine and fair in almost all media he appeared like podcasts but many of his actions are just so hard to justify.

He has a certain charm and seeming sincerity when he talks. But the more I see of him, the more disturbing I find him -- he combines the Mark Zuckerberg stare with the Elizabeth Holmes vocal fry.

so all psychopaths do, aren't they?

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

#707

Post by trustno2 »

windexh8er wrote: post #497
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…

The thing about the situation is that Altman is willing to lie and steal a celebrity's voice for use in ChatGPT. What he did, the timeline, everything - is sleazy if, in fact, that's the story. The really concerning part here is that Altman is, and wants to be, a large part of AI regulation [0]. Quite the public contradiction. [0] https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-openai-artificial...

Altman wants to be a part of AI regulation in the same way Bankman Fried wanted to be a part of cryptocurrency regulation.

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

#708

Post by BeefWellington »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #373
anon373839 wrote: post #62

Well, that statement lays out a damning timeline: - OpenAI approached Scarlett last fall, and she refused. - Two days before the GPT-4o launch, they contacted her agent and asked that she reconsider. (Two days! This means they already had everything they needed to ship the product with Scarlett’s cloned voice.) - Not receiving a response, OpenAI demos the product anyway, with Sam tweeting “her” in reference to Scarle…

AFAIK they yanked it pretty quickly and the subsequent scandal has widely informed people that it was not authorized by Scarlett Johansson. So while it was clearly a violation resulting from a sequence of very stupid decisions by OpenAI, I am not sure if there would be much in the way of damages.

In cases like this, don't damages essentially equate to the profit a company makes from the false association with the celebrity?

Otherwise, it'd be impossible to show damages if you weren't personally being denied business because of the association.

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

#709

Post by mrbungie »

moralestapia wrote: post #333
gcr wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s a weaksauce argument IMO. The character was played by SJ. Depictions of this character necessarily have to be depictions of the voice actress. Your argument may be stronger if OpenAI said something like “the movie studio owns the rights to this character’s likeness, so we approached them,” but it’s not clear they attempted that.

They didn't approach her, they approached her agent, which should've the point of contact for either case. As to whether she owns the rights of that performance or somebody else, we'd have to read the contract; most likely she doesn't, though.

Probably anyone but her inner circle can "approach her" directly. I would expect any other kind of connection to be made through her agent.

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

#710

Post by RCitronsBroker »

__loam wrote: post #167
anon373839 wrote: post #62

Well, that statement lays out a damning timeline: - OpenAI approached Scarlett last fall, and she refused. - Two days before the GPT-4o launch, they contacted her agent and asked that she reconsider. (Two days! This means they already had everything they needed to ship the product with Scarlett’s cloned voice.) - Not receiving a response, OpenAI demos the product anyway, with Sam tweeting “her” in reference to Scarle…

The tweet is so fucking brazen lol

yeah, that was just poking the hornets nest. Even if i wasn’t mad enough to make a stink over my voice before, plausible deniability and all, that would’ve sealed the deal for me.
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