OpenAI has removed GPT-4o's “Sky” voice after Scarlett Johansson said the corporate intentionally copied her voice.
GPT-4o wowed us with its natural-sounding voices during a demo of the upcoming Voice Mode. Actress Scarlett Johansson says GPT-4o's “Sky” sounds eerily like her own voice, and it's hard to dismiss her claim that this was intentional.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has argued that this just isn’t the case and that any similarity is solely coincidental.
In one blog entry outline the technique of how GPT-4o got its votes, OpenAI said: “We consider that AI voices shouldn’t intentionally mimic a star's distinctive voice – Sky's voice just isn’t an imitation of Scarlett Johansson, but belongs to a different skilled actress using her own natural speaking voice.”
Johansson disagreed and initiated legal proceedings to search out out more details concerning the truth behind Sky's voice.
In a lengthy statement, Johansson explained her reasons for believing the similarity to her voice was intentional.
Her statement read partly: “Last September I received a suggestion from Sam Altmanwho desired to hire me as a voice actor for the present show ChatGPT 4.0 system. He told me that he felt that by voicing the system I could bridge the gap between tech corporations and creatives and help consumers feel comfortable with the seismic shifts around people and AI
“He said he felt like my voice would comfort people. After much consideration and for private reasons, I declined the offer. Nine months later, my friends, family and most of the people noticed how much the most recent system called Sky gave the impression of me.
“When I heard the demo released, I used to be shocked, indignant and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would haunt a voice that sounded so eerily much like mine that my closest friends and news outlets couldn’t tell the difference.”
Altman did his argument no favors when he published this one-word post on X after the GPT-4o announcement.
her
– Sam Altman (@The same thing) May 13, 2024
His contribution references AltmanJoaquin Phoenix's favorite film is Her, during which Scarlett Johansson plays the voice of a virtual assistant with whom Joaquin Phoenix's character falls in love.
Even so, Altman insists that GPT-4o's 5 voices were shortened from 400 voice actor submissions and any similarity to other people's voices is unintentional.
In a press release to The Verge they said: Altman said: “Sky's voice just isn’t Scarlett Johansson's and was never intended for it to resemble hers. We chosen the voice actor behind Sky's voice before moving on to Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we’ve stopped using Sky's voice in our products. We are sorry, Ms. Johansson, that we didn’t communicate higher.”
When we finally get access to GPT-4o's voice mode, it is going to be a bit less sultry than the unique demo.
