OpenAI to ‘Pause’ Voice Linked to Scarlett Johansson

Picture courtesy: (Getty) Scarlett Johansson’s voice was faked by OpenAI.

(The Post News)- Los Angeles: Due to the controversy surrounding the release of OpenAI’s artificial voice, which has a striking similarity to actress Scarlett Johansson, the AI giant has decided to temporarily suspend the voice, known as “Sky.”

On Monday, Johansson shared her surprise and displeasure, stating that the artificial voice that sounded like hers was made public without her permission after she turned down an offer to work with OpenAI on the project.

Johansson said in a statement, “I was shocked, angered, and in disbelief,” pointing out how similar they were to such an extent that not even her closest friends and the media could tell the difference.

Sam Altman of OpenAI explained that “Sky,” the voice in question, was not purposefully created to sound like Johansson.

In September, Altman had already made Johansson an offer to work together, pointing out that a synthetic voice could be consoling during human-AI conversations. Similar AI interactions were imagined by Altman, who drew inspiration from the film “Her,” in which Johansson voiced an AI character.

Johansson, however, disclosed that Altman appeared to allude to the deliberate resemblance between her voice and “Sky,” alluding to a mysterious tweet that merely said “Her.”

These allegations were denied by the tool, which asserted that “Sky” was not meant to mimic Johansson but rather was based on the real-speaking voice of another actress. OpenAI declared that it would be temporarily discontinuing the use of the “Sky” voice while resolving the confusion and concerns expressed.

The business made a point of saying that it opposes AI products that purposefully mimic the voices of celebrities. This tool restated in a blog post, “Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson.”

Due to inquiries about the methodology used to create “Sky,” Johansson has demanded that OpenAI provide a thorough explanation.

The corporation made it clear that to create the artificial voices Breeze, Cove, Ember, Juniper, and Sky, it worked with professional voice actors. With the release of GPT-4o, an improved version of OpenAI’s artificial intelligence technology that further improved the AI’s humanlike characteristics, the focus on “Sky” increased.

The debate about “Sky” highlights the ethical issues and difficulties that arise when OpenAI works through the complexity of creating synthetic voices and celebrity likenesses.