Scarlett Johansson Gotham/FilmMagic
Scarlett Johansson has spoken out after OpenAI’s ChatGPT voice, referred to as “Sky,” sounded a lot like her personal that she employed a workforce of legal professionals to research.
The actress, 39, revealed in a press release to Us Weekly on Monday, Could 20, that she rejected a proposal to lend her voice to the synthetic intelligence in 2023. “Final September, I obtained a proposal from [OpenAI CEO] Sam Altman, who wished to rent me to voice the present ChatGPT 4.0 system,” Johansson defined. “He informed me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I may bridge the hole between tech firms and creatives and assist customers to really feel comfy with the seismic shift regarding people and Al. He mentioned he felt that my voice could be comforting to individuals. After a lot consideration and for private causes, declined the supply.”
She was lately stunned to search out OpenAI’s Sky voice sounded a lot like her personal.
“9 months later, my associates, household and most of the people all famous how a lot the latest system named ‘Sky’ gave the impression of me,” Johansson continued. “Once I heard the launched demo, I used to be shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily just like mine that my closest associates and information shops couldn’t inform the distinction. Mr. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single phrase ‘her’ — a reference to the movie during which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who varieties an intimate relationship with a human.”
Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost’s love story is one for the books. The Golden Globe nominee and the Saturday Night time Dwell star had been first noticed collectively in Could 2017 at an afterparty celebrating the NBC selection present’s season 42 finale. One yr later, he referred to as Johansson his “girlfriend” throughout a “Weekend Replace” phase on SNL. […]
The 2013 film Her, which costarred Joaquin Phoenix, gained the Oscar for Greatest Authentic Screenplay and earned over $48 million worldwide.
Scarlett Johansson Paul Morigi/Getty Photos
The Black Widow star additionally famous that Altman approached her to voice Sky as soon as once more simply earlier than it went public. “Two days earlier than the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was launched, Mr. Altman contacted my agent, asking me to rethink. Earlier than we may join, the system was on the market,” Johansson mentioned.
She continued, “Because of their actions, I used to be compelled to rent authorized counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAl, setting out what they’d completed and asking them to element the precise course of by which they created the ‘Sky’ voice. Consequently, OpenAl reluctantly agreed to take down the ‘Sky’ voice.”
Johansson concluded: “In a time after we are all grappling with deepfakes and the safety of our personal likeness, our personal work, our personal identities, I consider these are questions that deserve absolute readability. I look ahead to decision within the type of transparency and the passage of applicable laws to assist be certain that particular person rights are protected.”
When OpenAI took down Sky on Sunday, Could 19, the corporate shared a weblog publish claiming that Sky was an actual actress, not computer-generated. “We consider that AI voices shouldn’t intentionally mimic a celeb’s distinctive voice — Sky’s voice just isn’t an imitation of Scarlett Johansson however belongs to a distinct skilled actress utilizing her personal pure talking voice,” the publish mentioned. “To guard their privateness, we can not share the names of our voice skills.”
Colin Jost has needed to chortle off a number of jokes about his spouse, Scarlett Johansson, throughout season 49 of Saturday Night time Dwell. Johansson, who married the “Weekend Replace” co-anchor in October 2020 after assembly her on the set of SNL, beforehand admitted that she’s been nervous to look at the NBC selection present. “I now not often watch […]
The soundalike was much-discussed after Sky debuted, even turning into a punchline on Saturday Night time Dwell. Of their annual joke tradeoff (during which the Weekend Replace hosts pressure one another to learn jabs that they didn’t preview), Michael Che had Colin Jost, who’s married to Johansson, learn a quip in regards to the system.
“Oh, God,” Jost, 41, moaned when he first noticed his spouse’s identify seem on the teleprompter earlier than persevering with. “ChatGPT has launched a brand new voice assistant function impressed by Scarlett Johansson’s AI character in Her, which I’ve by no means bothered to look at as a result of with out that physique, what’s the purpose of listening?”
He instantly buried his face in his fingers in embarrassment.
Jost and Johansson married in 2020 and welcomed son Cosmo one yr later. (Johansson additionally shares daughter Rose with ex-husband Romain Dauriac.)
