Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, issued an apology to Scarlett Johansson on Tuesday following her shock over a synthetic voice named “Sky” released by the ChatGPT-maker. Altman clarified that the voice was not modeled after Johansson’s.
The controversy stemmed from the introduction of “Sky,” part of OpenAI’s new GPT-4o artificial intelligence. Sky displayed traits of humor and flirtation, leading to comparisons with Johansson’s AI character in the film “Her.”
Altman, who previously cited “Her” as inspiration for AI development, emphasized that Sky’s voice was chosen before any outreach to Johansson. To address concerns, OpenAI halted the use of Sky’s voice out of respect for Johansson.
Johansson expressed dismay, claiming that Altman had proposed collaborating with her on a synthetic voice project in September, which she declined.
OpenAI disclosed its voice casting process, conducted in early 2023 to find voices with timeless qualities and global appeal. The final five actors recorded their voices in San Francisco last year, with their contributions integrated into ChatGPT.
The incident sparked debates over humanizing AI, with Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi cautioning against overly human-like chatbots. Meanwhile, OpenAI recently disbanded a team focused on mitigating AI risks, integrating members into other projects.
