Scarlett Johansson does NOT want to be turned into an AI chatbot… And she ain’t about to let ChatGPT use a knockoff version of her voice for theirs!
In a lengthy statement released by her rep on Tuesday, the Avengers actress accused OpenAI CEO Sam Altman of pursuing a voice for ChatGPT’s latest system that sounds similar to hers… a little too similar. She began by explaining how, months ago, she declined his offer to be his robot voice! She wrote:
“Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system. 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.
Related: Sorry, That One Terrible Harrison Butker Quote Is FAKE!
But she wasn’t interested:
“After much consideration and for personal reasons, I declined the offer. Nine months later, my friends, family and the general public all noted how much the newest system named ‘Sky’ sounded like me.”
If you haven’t heard it, take a listen for yourselves (below):
That sounds SO much like her, right?! The 39-year-old 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.”
And shockingly, the AI CEO even seemed to insinuate the voice’s similarity to that of Scarlett’s in 2013’s Her, in which she voiced an AI chatbot. Scarlett wrote:
“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 forms an intimate relationship with a human.”
It’s true! As of this writing, the tweet is still up! And remember, that wasn’t before asking her. That was months after the rejection! Seems like he knew what he was doing — and made it clear to everyone else, too!
her
— Sam Altman (@sama) May 13, 2024
WTF!!!
And apparently, he came knocking on her door AGAIN just before the ChatGPT system dropped:
“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.”
Wait, TWO DAYS?? Surely he didn’t plan to have her record everything that quickly… So is the supposition here that he might have used her voice already? The same way AI steals everything from the internet? Kinda seems that way!
The Lucy star explained her legal team was getting to the bottom of it:
“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. Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the ‘Sky’ voice.”
All she asked was they “detail the exact process” by which they made it, and instead of doing that they DELETED IT?? Man, that doesn’t look guilty at all, huh?
ScarJo concluded her statement:
“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. I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.”
This is so WILD!!! And SO creepy!
Thoughts?? Let us know down in the comments!
[Images via Warner Bros. Pictures/YouTube & MEGA/WENN]
