In an unusual twist, a prominent Hollywood actress, Scarlett Johansson, decided that an artificial intelligence phenomenon called OpenAI has developed a voice for its ChatGPT system that seems to mimic hers. This comes after the source revealed that Johansson was once offered a chance to become the voice of the chatbot by OpenAI, but she quickly turned down the opportunity.
In September last year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman approached Johansson with an employment opportunity to voice a ChatGPT voice assistant. However, the gifted actress’s offer was rejected. Nine months later, everybody, including Johansson’s friends, family, and people who watched the news more often, noticed a certain similarity between Sky, the newly introduced system, and Johansson’s voice.
As the reports translated, Johansson was very surprised and annoyed by the situation, saying in a statement: “When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered, and in disbelief that Mr.
Regarding Johansson’s accusations, Altman countered them by saying that the voice of the character known as “Sky” is not Johansson’s but belongs to another professional voice actress. He did, however, admit that the company should have been more communicative with Johansson, and, in response, he has decided to stop using what they call “Sky’s” voice in products.
The struggle for control of actors’ voices and images has developed significant challenges in the entertainment industry, as studios and technological solutions consider AI a method of making new forms of entertainment.
Johansson’s case will be a good example of the many legal and ethical issues surrounding the use of content developed by artificial intelligence and the prosecution of human performers who act in such content.
It is thus challenging to trail the development of the industry and understand how they will sort the contentious issues while ensuring that artists also have their rights protected. This raises concerns for organizations as they embark on trying to push the limits of AI for content generation by going through the experiences of Johansson and OpenAI.
