OpenAI leader Sam Altman apologized to Scarlett Johansson on Tuesday after the movie star said he had been “shocked” by a new artificial voice released through the creator of ChatGPT, but insisted the voice was not based on his own.
The challenge is “Sky,” a voice that OpenAI introduced last week in its more human-like GPT-4o synthetic intelligence technology.
In one demo, Sky was flirtatious and funny, moving smoothly from topic to topic, unlike most chatbots out there.
The generation, and the sound of the voice, temporarily drew similarities to the AI character voiced by Johansson in the 2013 film “Her. “
Altguy has in the past cited the Spike Jonze-directed film, a warning about the future in which a man falls in love with an AI chatbot, as inspiration for where to go with AI interactions.
Last week he fueled the hypothesis with a one-word message on X, formerly Twitter, “she/her. “
“Sky’s voice is not Scarlett Johansson’s, and it was never intended to sound like hers,” Altman said Tuesday in reaction to the controversy.
“We chose the voice of the voice actor Sky over any technique for Mrs. Johansson.
“Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have suspended the use of Sky’s voice in our products. We regret to Mrs. Johansson that we did better. “
This came after Johansson expressed outrage on Monday, saying she was “shocked, angry and incredulous that Mr. Altman could simply chase down a voice that sounded so suspiciously similar to mine that my closest friends and the media might not notice the difference. “
She said Altman proposed in September to hire her to work with OpenAI to create an artificial voice, saying it could be that other people would interact with the AI, but she refused.
– Dissolved risk –
In a blog post, the company explained that it began recruiting voice actors in early 2023, “carefully contemplating the voice’s unique personality and appeal to global audiences. “
Some of the features sought were “an everlasting voice” and “an approachable voice that inspires confidence,” the company said.
The final five actors flew to San Francisco to record in June and July, he said, and their voices were featured in ChatGPT last September.
“For your privacy, we cannot share the names of our broadcasters,” OpenAI said.
“We, the voices of AI, deserve to not intentionally imitate a celebrity’s unique voice. “
So far, in the AI frenzy, top tech giants have been reluctant to humanize chatbots too much and some observers have expressed fears that last week’s OpenAI demo has gone too far.
Microsoft Vice President Yusuf Mehdi warned that AI “should be human. ”
“He’s not breathing. You can tell it’s an AI,” he told AFP.
The dispute with Johansson came just days after OpenAI admitted to disbanding a team committed to mitigating the long-term risks of artificial intelligence.
OpenAI began dissolving the so-called “superalignment” organization a few weeks ago, integrating its members into other projects and research.
BUR-ARP/BGS
Originally published when OpenAI apologizes to Johansson and denies voice over her.
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