Scarlett Johansson's Clash With OpenAI Over ChatGPT Voice Reveals Dark Side Of AI

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wanted actress Scarlett Johansson to be the voice behind the company's ChatGPT voice assistant, reaching out to her last September, according to Johansson. She declined the offer for personal reasons, she said in a statement.

But, when OpenAI released a demo for its voice assistant, it appeared as if the company used a voice modeled after Johansson's anyway. This prompted her to enlist legal counsel, which wrote letters to OpenAI spurring the company to take down the voice, dubbed ‘Sky'. Microsoft Corp MSFT is an investor and owns a minority stake in OpenAI.

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The saga showcases a clear issue with how AI models are trained and developed. Even without Johansson's consent, AI was able to seemingly recreate her voice through media such as her movies, interviews and more. Altman, the CEO and cofounder of OpenAI, tweeted “her” a few days ago, which many people speculate is a reference to a movie in which Johansson voices an AI virtual assistant.

Johansson's battle with OpenAI is one small example of a larger problem as artists grapple with how AI companies train their tools and programs. OpenAI and other companies have used images, videos and other media forms that can be found on social media to train their programs, without compensating the creators of that media.

Many people were quick to criticize Altman and OpenAI on X. Howard Lindzon, the founder of StockTwits, tweeted that Altman is ‘full of s***.'  Actor Anson Mount tweeted "Rarely have I seen a company's intention so completely undermined by the arrogance of its CEO. Good for [Johansson] for fighting back. Mr. Altman seems to be under the delusion that we are already his digital slaves."

The use of AI to replace voice actors and creators was a key discussion point during last year's writers’ strike in Hollywood. Johansson's decision to decline the offer from OpenAI highlights the need for regulations to protect artists, actors, and creators from being undermined by AI tools.

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