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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

#831

Post by sanderjd »

hifromwork wrote: post #679
dehrmann wrote: post #669

As soon as Scarlett Johansson said "no" (which I assume is true), OpenAI needed to go in very different directions to avoid anything that might look bad. It doesn't matter if they used a sound-alike or built a model from actual source material; anything would look bad. It looks especially bad when the company insists chatbot outputs are synthesized and not copyright infringement.

"Looking bad" is not illegal. If OpenAI didn't do anything illegal, saying it shouldn't do something because it might "look bad" is unfounded. In general, listening to what people say and avoiding things that might "look bad" to someone is a bad life strategy.

They may or may not have done anything illegal. I think the facts in this article help their legal case significantly!

It is a bad life strategy as an individual to worry too much about the judgement of others.

But marketing and PR are important parts of running a business. It may be annoying that your customers care about things that you see as silly PR stuff, but it still matters to the business.

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

#832

Post by dragonwriter »

not2b wrote: post #744
tptacek wrote: post #670

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They hired the actor that did the voice months before they contacted SJ . The reaction on this site to the news that this story was false is kind of mindbending.

It was not claimed that they cloned ScarJo's voice. They hired a soundalike when they couldn't get the person they wanted. Use or lack of use of AI is irrelevant. As I said before, both Bette Midler and Tom Waits won similar cases. Since they withdrew the voice this will end, but if OpenAI hadn't backed off and ScarJo sued, there would be discovery, and we'd find out what her instructions were. If those instructions…

> It was not claimed that they cloned ScarJo’s voice.

There were some claims by some people when the issue first arose that they had specifically done a deepfake clone of SJ’s voice; probably because of the combination of apparent trading on the similarity and the nature of OpenAI’s business. That’s not the case as far as the mechanism by which the voice was produced.

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

#833

Post by z7 »

A voice isn't owned. It exists as a transient event of sound waves moving through space, shaped and modulated by the atmosphere, surfaces, and distances. Without a medium and the presence of listeners, these vibrations are meaningless. Thus, a voice exists only as a form of interaction with its physical environment. It's a communal event that doesn't belong to anyone.

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

#834

Post by sanderjd »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #596

OpenAI is running laps around the media and everyone is eating it up Notice that every month or so they have a few new “scandals” with high intrigue but noticeably iron clad legal and political “cover your ass” investments/ politicking Meanwhile they are getting deep into bed with Apple, making an admarket (worst possible case scenario for users IMO) and generally cementing all of these commercial inroads for revenue…

This isn't true at all. It can seem true for a surprisingly long time, but sometimes bad press is bad press.

Tesla's no press is bad press "strategy" recently came home to roost. No matter how you slice it, alienating your core constituency of customers is bad business.

This "bad" press certainly might not actually be bad. But it just isn't true that all press is good.

It's a nice quip, but in practice, the actual details matter.

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

#835

Post by mwigdahl »

uberdru wrote: post #541

Tom Waits provides the template here. He successfully sued Cheetos for impersonation. The major similarity: Waits, like Johansson, declined an offer to use his voice in advertising.

And so OpenAI can't legally... use any adult white female's voice in their product?

I'm not a lawyer, but doesn't there have to actually be a reasonable voice resemblance to conclude that there's impersonation? In a side-by-side "taste test" I don't think these two voices are very similar.

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

#836

Post by sanderjd »

DeathArrow wrote: post #170

Some people die due to hunger, some people die due to wars, some people die due to curable diseases, but somehow, what matters most for some folks is whether OpenAI copied the voice of Scarlett Johansson. Human mind is a curious place.

There is no implication anywhere that this is "what matters most" to anyone.

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

#837

Post by ilaksh »

grugagag wrote: post #308
ilaksh wrote: post #187

It's always the least significant thing that everyone cares the most about. Because people are stupid. This one case is a pretty grey area. But what is not is the voice cloning tools like Eleven Labs which can and do clone voices very well. Forget about stealing one person's voice. Or a lot of people's voices. This technology will soon be able to replace everyone's skillset. Give it 2-5 years. This type of reaction i…

> This type of reaction is how we know that humans will not maintain control of the planet for much longer. But who will? There will always be some people who own the technology, they will hold control over people with the help of technology but not the technology itself which has no intent whatsoever. But I agree that people will be rendered powerless or even redundant which calls their existence into question.

Eventually things will be run by new types of AI lifeforms.

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

#838

Post by Wowfunhappy »

jmull wrote: post #631

Well, here are some things that aren't really being disputed: * OpenAI wanted an AI voice that sounds like SJ * SJ declined * OpenAI got an AI voice that sounds like SJ anyway I guess they want us to believe this happened without shenanigans, but it's bit hard to. The headline of the article is a little funny, because records can't really show they weren't looking for an SJ sound-alike. They can just show that those…

But there's nothing wrong with this!

Let's say I'm making a movie. I have an old wizard character similar to Gandolf in Lord of the Rings, so I contact the guy who played Gandolf in Lord of the Rings. He says no, so I hire a different actor who also fits the "old wise wizard" archetype.

Is any of that illegal?

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

#839

Post by j0hnyl »

jmull wrote: post #631

Well, here are some things that aren't really being disputed: * OpenAI wanted an AI voice that sounds like SJ * SJ declined * OpenAI got an AI voice that sounds like SJ anyway I guess they want us to believe this happened without shenanigans, but it's bit hard to. The headline of the article is a little funny, because records can't really show they weren't looking for an SJ sound-alike. They can just show that those…

Except the voice does NOT sound like SJ.

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

#840

Post by qarl »

beeboobaa3 wrote: post #778
kstrauser wrote: post #773

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't take this as me defending OpenAI's clearly sketchy process. I'm writing this to help myself think through it. If it weren't for their attempt to link the voice to SJ (i.e. with the "her" tweet), would that be OK? - It's fine to hire a voice actor. - It's fine to train a system to sound like that voice actor. - It's fine to hire a voice actor who sounds like someone else. - It's probably fine to go out of…

> It's probably not fine to hire a voice actor and tell them to imitate someone else. Pretty sure this is fine, otherwise cartoons like the simpsons or south park would've gotten in trouble years ago.

Parody is a protected fair use case.

You can make a Saturday Night Live sketch making fun of Darth Vader.

You cannot use a Darth Vader imitator to sell light sabers.

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