Movie star Scarlett Johansson expressed shock and disbelief after OpenAI released a synthetic voice that sounds eerily like her. The artificial intelligence company, led by Sam Altman, stated that they were working on temporarily muting the Johansson-sounding voice, which they refer to as “Sky.” Johansson revealed that Altman had offered her a job to work with OpenAI to create a synthetic voice, with the aim of providing comfort to people engaging with AI. Altman has previously cited the Johansson-voiced character in the movie “Her” as inspiration for future AI interactions.
The actress mentioned that Altman hinted that the similarity in voices was intentional, and even sent a cryptic tweet with the word “Her.” However, OpenAI clarified in a blog post that the “Sky” voice was based on the natural speaking voice of a different professional actress and was not intended to mimic Johansson’s voice. The company emphasized that AI voices should not deliberately imitate a celebrity’s unique voice. They are now working on pausing the Sky voice while they address the confusion surrounding its resemblance to Johansson.
As questions arose regarding the selection of voices in ChatGPT, especially the Sky voice, OpenAI explained that they collaborated with professional voice actors on synthetic voices named Breeze, Cove, Ember, Juniper, and Sky. The focus shifted to Sky when OpenAI unveiled a more advanced version of their technology, GPT-4o, showcasing a human-like and high-performing voice. The new Sky voice displayed characteristics such as being flirtatious and humorous, with the ability to smoothly transition between topics, setting it apart from other chatbots in the market.
In the landscape of artificial intelligence development, tech giants have been cautious about overly humanizing chatbots. Despite this, OpenAI’s advancements in creating realistic synthetic voices have generated intrigue and attention within the industry. Johansson has requested a comprehensive explanation from OpenAI on how the Sky voice was created, seeking clarity on the process behind the development of these AI voices. The company’s commitment to transparency and accountability in its AI projects is crucial in maintaining trust and addressing concerns related to the use of celebrity likenesses in synthetic voices.
