ScarJo voices anger at OpenAI's unauthorized soundalike
- Reference: 1716272946
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/05/21/scarlett_johansson_openai_accusation/
- Source link:
This odd tale starts in 2013, with the release of a film named "Her" in which Joaquin Phoenix's character falls in love with an AI assistant named Samantha, voiced by Johansson.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has previously expressed his admiration for the film.
[1]
The next act in the story takes place in 2023, when OpenAI approached Johansson seeking a license to use her voice in a future product.
[2]
[3]
Johansson declined.
In September 2023, OpenAI [4]launched a voice interface to ChatGPT. One of the voices is called "Sky".
[5]
On May 11 of this year, OpenAI again approached Johansson, and Altman asked her to reconsider.
On May 13, OpenAI [6]announced GPT-4o, which includes an improved voice mode. Altman marked the occasion with a [7]Xeet containing just one word: "Her".
Is it her?
The Register used OpenAI to generate audio voiced by Sky. You can access the 26-second clip [8]here .
Does it sound like Johansson? Our comment facility is at the bottom of this story.
At an unidentified point, Johansson heard OpenAI's voices and decided Sky's dulcet tones were uncomfortably like her own.
"I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference," she [9]told US outlet NPR.
Johansson felt the reference to the film Her in Altman's Xeet was an insinuation the similarity between her voice and that of Sky was intentional, and that the OpenAI boss had therefore acted against her wishes.
[10]
"In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity," Johansson told NPR.
The actor's publicist told NPR Johansson has lawyered up and "sent OpenAI two letters asking the company to detail the process by which it developed a voice the tech company dubbed 'Sky'."
[11]AI might be coming for your job, but Sam Altman can't go on dinner dates anymore
[12]Slack tweaks its principles in response to user outrage at AI slurping
[13]Reddit goes AI agnostic, signs data training deal with OpenAI
[14]Microsoft's carbon emissions up nearly 30% thanks to AI
OpenAI has responded with a [15]post titled "How the voices for ChatGPT were chosen" that reveals a lengthy audition process in which 400 submissions were considered as OpenAI sought out human actors. The AI dev eventually chose five anonymous actors to provide voice talent, and in September 2023 launched their voices onto ChatGPT.
That post states "We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity's distinctive voice – Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson, but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice."
OpenAI has nonetheless withdrawn Sky. Because who wants to be on the wrong side of Black Widow?
The incident comes on the heels of OpenAI's safety boss, Jan Leike, [16]bailing after claiming the firm pays insufficient attention to the downsides of AI.
Among those issues are using AI to create fake speech that imitates well-known people – a practice feared to have enormous potential to distort political debate and spread misinformation.
Another oddity about this incident is that Sky has been available since September 2023, yet Altman mentioned "Her" only on May 13, and Johansson's statement came a week later. ®
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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zkxwyqjzz7xYKXEm3Jn-ugAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zkxwyqjzz7xYKXEm3Jn-ugAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[4] https://openai.com/index/chatgpt-can-now-see-hear-and-speak/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zkxwyqjzz7xYKXEm3Jn-ugAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/13/openai_gpt4o/
[7] https://x.com/sama/status/1790075827666796666
[8] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/05/21/open_ai_sky_recipe.mp3
[9] https://www.npr.org/2024/05/20/1252495087/openai-pulls-ai-voice-that-was-compared-to-scarlett-johansson-in-the-movie-her
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zkxwyqjzz7xYKXEm3Jn-ugAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/20/openai_safety_culture/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/20/slack_ts_and_cs_update/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/17/reddit_signs_ai_deal/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/16/microsoft_co2_emissions/
[15] https://openai.com/index/how-the-voices-for-chatgpt-were-chosen/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/20/openai_safety_culture/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Eh?
One of my customers sounds like Paul Hogan - should Hoges sue him for that?
Re: Eh?
If he starts taking part in commercial ventures or other projects, where he is deliberately passing himself off as Paul Hogan, maybe not saying he is Paul Hogan, but copying his mannerisms, catchphrases, and modes of speech, such that people might reasonably assume it is Paul Hogan.
Then absolutely Paul Hogan should go after him.
That's what this comes down to, having a voice so similar to that of a famous actress, which can be so easily manipulated to trick people into thinking it is her, would allow people to create deep fakes, fake ads, etc. that could really do massive damage to her reputation and ability to work in the future.
Hell if a recording came out tomorrow of her declaring she hated all black people, and hoped trump would kick them out of her country. Even if she denied ever making the statement, how many people would believe it was true, how many people would boycott her films, how many jobs would she lose out on from producers not wanting to be involved with a "controversial" star. Even if it was completely faked, even if it was proven to be completely faked, some people would still believe it.
This sort of AI voice shit is super dangerous, and the sooner it gets massively regulated, the better.
Re: Eh?
"Even if it was completely faked, even if it was proven to be completely faked, some people would still believe it."
Even if it was nothing like her, some people would still believe it.
Look-a-likes and impressionists out of a job too from the sound of it, a long with all parody accounts. Fairly sure these are currently protected under Fair Use legislation in the US.
Re: Eh?
One of my customers sounds like Paul Hogan
My deepest sympathy for his unfortunate affliction.
Perhaps he could get elocution lessions on the NDIS?
Hurray, OpenAI has found a new lucrative market
Horny incels.
Is a soundalike illegal?
It they aren't outright claiming it was her, is there really a problem?
A lot of the voices you hear on adverts (for example) are soundalikes (often the same couple of people who specialise in doing this for many different voices) rather than the famous person you assume they are.
It might not be nice but they made no claims about who it was doing the voice, however it may have been inspired.
Re: Is a soundalike illegal?
From the article it seems the lawyers didn't claim it was illegal, but asked OpenAI to detail the specific process by which the "soundalike" voice was created, presumably to ensure it was created by legal means, and not by illegally using unapproved samples.
OpenAI chose to withdraw the voice, read into that what you will...
Re: Is a soundalike illegal?
"It they aren't outright claiming it was her, is there really a problem?"
Yes. And people have been sued and lost millions of $ because of it. Look up Tom Waits vs Frito-Lay
It sounds...
...a little bit like her. In a movie where she was pretending to be an AI.