Scarlett Johansson is speaking out after OpenAI announced on Sunday that it would be pausing the use of an emotive voice on its newest version of ChatGPT that sounded like the actress.
In a statement from Johansson’s publicist to ABC Audio, the actress detailed how she was approached by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to voice the ChatGPT 4.0 system, how she declined and how she discovered that a voice on the new system sounded like her voice.
Johansson said the use of a similar voice to hers on the new system shocked her and forced her to hire legal counsel.
“Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system,” Johansson began in her statement. “He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI. He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people.”
“After much consideration and for personal reasons, I declined the offer,” she continued. “Nine months later, my friends, family and the general public all noted how much the newest system named ‘Sky’ sounded like me,” her statement continued.
“When I heard the released demo, 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,” said Johansson, who went on to say that Altman’s use of the voice was “intentional” and a reference to her character in the 2013 film “Her,” in which Johansson voices the chat system, Samantha.
“Mr. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word 'her' -- a reference to the film in which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who formed a relationship with a human,” Johansson said, referencing Altman’s May 13 message on X, formerly known as Twitter, which fueled more questions about the voice’s origins. “Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. Before we could connect, the system was out there.”
“As a result of their actions, I was forced to hire legal counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAI, setting out what they had done and asking them to detail the exact process by which they created the ‘Sky’ voice,” she continued. “Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the ‘Sky’ voice.”
OpenAI also shared a blog post detailing how the voices for ChatGPT were chosen through an "extensive process spanning five months involving professional voice actors, talent agencies, casting directors, and industry advisors" and how it believes that the voices “should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice.”
It also said that Sky’s voice is "not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson, but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice." OpenAI did not release the name of the actress voicing Sky nor the other actors for the other voices of the system to "protect their privacy."
Johansson ended her statement by addressing the larger conversation around artificial intelligence and privacy as a whole.
“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,” she said. “I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.”
In response to Johansson’s statement, Altman released his own, saying Open AI is "sorry" they "didn't communicate better."
“The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson's, and it was never intended to resemble hers,” Altman said. “We cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson.”
“Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky’s voice in our products,” he added. “We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn’t communicate better.”