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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

#951

Post by s0lar »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #668
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…

Clearly an SJ voice was the goal, given that Altman asked her to do it, asked her a second time just two days before the ChatGPT-4o release, and then tweeted "her" on the release day. The next day Karpathy, recently ex-OpenAI, then tweets "The killer app of LLMs is Scarlett Johansson". Altman appears to be an habitual liar. Note his recent claim not to be aware of the non-disparagement and claw-back terms he had depa…

It could have simply been the other way around: they auditioned some unknown voice actors, then someone noted that one of them sounded like Scarlett Johansson. They optimistically contacted SJ, assuming she would agree, but then had to back off.

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

#952

Post by deprecative »

kamaal wrote: post #923
standardly wrote: post #885

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine being sued by a celebrity for looking or sounding like them. Should've not chosen to born with a similar voice.

This whole thing is so bizarre. A lot of people look handsome, sound handsome and are even stylish. So some rich person can randomly claim some one looks closer or sounds closer to them and hence needs to forced to wear a mask to prevented from even talking? So what happens next, when AI bots begin to sing, compose music, teach, paint or anything for that matter?

I don't think it's a trivial thing as vanity though it would be a convenient culprit. Instead, I believe what makes more sense is endorsement and one's right to their likeness. If the person had merely sounded similar it probably wouldn't be an issue. Rather it seems to be that in each case the party caught out seems to have intentionally sought to convince people that she endorsed the product and/or may have been financially tied.

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

#953

Post by GuB-42 »

Can it be argued that they copied "Her" voice, not Scarlett Johansson’s voice?

I mean, yes, Scarlett Johansson is the actress, but she is not playing herself in the movie. I didn't watch the movie, but I guess she matched her voice to the character, an AI called Samantha, who is not Scarlett Johansson.

It is not like the "Midler vs Ford" case that is often referred to. Where Ford hired a singer to sound like Midler, but that's Midler singing as Midler, not acting a fictional character.

Maybe Warner Bros could complain, they are the owners of the character OpenAI imitates. In the same way that Disney (rather than Scarlett Johansson) would complain if someone used the Black Widow character without permission.

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

#954

Post by CRConrad »

mike_hearn wrote: post #116
dorkwood wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bit like someone saying they don't want cars traveling down the sidewalk because they're too big and heavy, and then having someone ask how big and heavy a person needs to get before it becomes illegal for them to travel down the sidewalk. It misses the point, which is that cars aren't people. Arguments like "well a car uses friction to travel along the ground and fuel to create kinetic energy, just like hu…

Is that a good example? People have been arguing in court about that exact thing for years, first due to Segway and then due to e-scooters and bikes. There's plenty of people who make arguments of the form "it's not a car or a bike so I'm allowed on the sidewalk", or make arguments about limited top speeds etc.

> Is that a good example?

Yes. It is pertinent not only to this particular instance (or instances, plural; AI copyright violations and scooters on sidewalks), but illustrates for example why treating corporations as "people" in freedom-of-speech law is misguided (and stupid, corrupt, and just fucking wrong). So it is a very good example.

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

#955

Post by CRConrad »

tibbydudeza wrote: post #91
pavlov wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I know there is some exceptions in US law for use of parody ???.

Sure, but what does that have to do with this?

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

#956

Post by CRConrad »

portaouflop wrote: post #145
0110101001 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to clarify for people who don't read it, the article isn't claiming this was trained on the voice of someone doing a Scarlett Johannson impression. It says it was trained on the natural voice of someone who sounds similar to Johannson's, hired months before Altman reached out to her.

Who cares about this nothingburger

Lots of people, apparently: One of the biggest threads I've seen on here in the last weeks (months?). So not a "nothingburger".

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

#957

Post by CRConrad »

tptacek wrote: post #76
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…

"The agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to assure the safety of her client, said the actress confirmed that neither Johansson nor the movie “Her” were ever mentioned by OpenAI."

But will either be mentioned by ChatGPT?

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

#958

Post by CRConrad »

mwigdahl wrote: post #825
modeless wrote: post #33

> an actress was hired to create the Sky voice months before Altman contacted Johansson > the actress confirmed that neither Johansson nor the movie “Her” were ever mentioned by OpenAI. The actress’s natural voice sounds identical to the AI-generated Sky voice, based on brief recordings Given this I don't think anyone at OpenAI did anything wrong in this instance except Sam Altman. After getting explicitly rejected b…

> definitely should not have referenced her character in that tweet. Did he, though? The character's name was Samantha. The name of the _movie_ was Her.

And who was the "her" the title referred to?

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

#959

Post by ben_w »

sanderjd wrote: post #798
TeMPOraL wrote: post #716

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> its inconceivable the majority of the team at OpenAI haven't at least seen part of the film that almost defined their industry Let's not exaggerate. It was a somewhat popular movie, yes, but not really defining and far from the first example of conversational AI speaking woman's voice. There are plenty of examples in movies and TV shows. If anything, the seminal work in this space is Star Trek casting Majel Barrett…

> Let's not exaggerate. It was a somewhat popular movie, yes, but not really defining and far from the first example of conversational AI speaking woman's voice. There are plenty of examples in movies and TV shows. I'm honestly surprised so many people are making this argument, seemingly with a straight face. It would have been a pretty weak argument even without the tweet from Altman - it is not exaggeration to say…

The quotation above is

> its inconceivable the majority of the team at OpenAI haven't at least seen part of the film that almost defined their industry

rather than

> It is inconsistent that Sam personally wasn't aware

(He obviously was)

I'd agree that Majel Barrett-Roddenberry is the prime example of a computer voice interface for most nerds… but then I looked up when Her was released and feel old now because "surely it's not 11 years old already!"

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

#960

Post by CRConrad »

sobellian wrote: post #518

It's a sign of the times when OpenAI tacitly encourages forming a relationship with a computer system, and controversy erupts over IP rights for voice actors. Higher-minded discussions certainly take place on a range of issues in AI. Can I rely on my AI to tell the truth? Is it ethical to use an AI for military applications? How do I make sure my AI doesn't turn into Archie Bunker? Even (IMO) fringe issues like wheth…

So in that sense it's a good thing that "Open" AI are just as venal and stupid on small shit like this as on those bigger and more serious issues. So the great unwashed, with their limited attention spans (and, TBF, realistically much less insight on the big underlying issues), can see for themselves, in terms they can grasp, what a-holes they are.

ETA: Seems to work on non-IT mundanes, at least. Not on tech-bro fanbois, of course, which seem to be the only kind of people defending "O"AI / Altman here.

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