Scarlett Johansson, a famous Hollywood actress, was surprised and upset when she heard that OpenAI had created a synthetic voice for ChatGPT that sounded a lot like hers.
OpenAI stopped the update after people pointed out the similarities. The artificial voice, called Sky, was also criticized for sounding too ‘flirtatious.’ It reminded people of Scarlett’s voice in the movie ‘Her,’ where she played an AI assistant.
Scarlett said that OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, had offered her a job last year to voice the ChatGPT 4.0 system, but she turned it down for personal reasons.
She hired a lawyer and sent two letters to Altman asking them to remove the Sky voice. Eventually, OpenAI agreed, but not without some reluctance. According to Scarlett, Altman contacted her manager just two days before releasing the ChatGPT 4.0 demo.
Scarlett believes that in a time when deepfakes are a concern, it’s essential to protect people’s identities and work. She hopes for clear rules and laws to safeguard individual rights.