Recently, famous actress Scarlett Johansson expressed her outrage by claiming that the voice called “Sky” used in OpenAI’s newly introduced GPT-4o model resembled her own voice. Johansson claimed that OpenAI used her voice without permission and demanded an explanation.
Scarlett Johansson revealed that she received an offer from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to voice the ChatGPT 4.0 system last September, but declined for personal reasons. Johansson said that Altman’s representative contacted him again just two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo and asked him to reconsider the offer. However, she was shocked and angered when she saw the demo using her voice.
Johansson said that she hired legal counsel and demanded that OpenAI explain in detail how the Sky voice was created. The famous actress said she was left in “shock, anger and amazement” when she heard that the Sky voice was “eerily similar” to her.
OpenAI’s Response to Scarlett Johansson
OpenAI has removed the voice named Sky from the GPT-4o model after a backlash from Scarlett Johansson. The company argued that the voice of Sky belongs to another professional actor, whose identity was not disclosed for privacy reasons, and that they had no intention of impersonating Scarlett Johansson. OpenAI stated that they do not share the names of the voice actors to protect the privacy of the actors.
Sam Altman said in a statement that the resemblance of Sky’s voice to Scarlett Johansson was not intentional and that they chose the artist behind the voice before reaching out to Johansson. Stating that they stopped using Sky’s voice out of respect for Johansson, Altman added that they apologized for not communicating better.
Are the Expected Discussions in the Artificial Intelligence World Beginning?
Sky, one of the voice modes introduced by OpenAI last September, aimed to offer users a more natural chat experience. However, during the introduction of the GPT-4o model, this voice was likened to Scarlett Johansson, bringing ethical debates in artificial intelligence and voice assistant technologies. Johansson made a statement after this incident, emphasizing that deepfake technologies and the voices and images produced by artificial intelligence pose a threat to the identity rights of individuals. Highlighting the importance of transparency and legal regulations in the use of such technologies, Johansson demanded the adoption of appropriate legislation to ensure the protection of individual rights.
Although OpenAI has stopped the use of the Sky voice, it plans to offer different voice options in the future to better adapt to users’ interests and preferences. The company stated that it attaches importance to the authenticity and reliability of artificial intelligence voices and announced that it will take more careful steps in this regard.
This voice crisis between Scarlett Johansson and OpenAI has reignited the debate on the ethical use of artificial intelligence technologies. Especially the increasing sensitivity about the unauthorized use of celebrities’ voices and images has revealed the necessity of stricter regulations in the field of artificial intelligence.
