OpenAI on Monday said it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices that B次元官网网址淗erB次元官网网址� actor Scarlett Johansson says sounds B次元官网网址渆erily similarB次元官网网址� to her own.
In a on the social media platform X, OpenAI said it is B次元官网网址渨orking to pauseB次元官网网址� Sky B次元官网网址� the name of one of five voices that ChatGPT users can chose to speak with. The company said it had B次元官网网址渉eard questionsB次元官网网址� about how it selects the lifelike audio options available for its flagship artificial intelligence chatbot, particularly Sky, and wanted to address them.
Among those raising questions was Johansson, who famously voiced a fictional, and at the time futuristic, AI assistant in the 2013 film
Johansson issued a statement saying that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had approached her in September asking her if she would lend her voice to the system, saying he felt it would be B次元官网网址渃omforting to peopleB次元官网网址� not at ease with the technology. She said she declined the offer.
B次元官网网址淲hen 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,B次元官网网址� Johansson said.
She said OpenAI B次元官网网址渞eluctantlyB次元官网网址� agreed to take down the Sky voice after she hired lawyers who wrote Altman letters asking about the process by which the company came up with the voice.
OpenAI had moved to debunk the internetB次元官网网址檚 theories about Johansson in a blog post accompanying its earlier announcement aimed at detailing how ChatGPTB次元官网网址檚 voices were chosen. The company that it believed AI voices B次元官网网址渟hould not deliberately mimic a celebrityB次元官网网址檚 distinctive voiceB次元官网网址� and that the voice of Sky belongs to a B次元官网网址渄ifferent professional actress.B次元官网网址� But it added that it could not share the name of that professional for privacy reasons.
In a statement sent to The Associated Press following JohanssonB次元官网网址檚 response late Monday, Altman said that OpenAI cast the voice actor behind Sky B次元官网网址渂efore any outreachB次元官网网址� to Johansson.
B次元官网网址淭he voice of Sky is not Scarlett JohanssonB次元官网网址檚, and it was never intended to resemble hers,B次元官网网址� Altman said. B次元官网网址淥ut of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using SkyB次元官网网址檚 voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didnB次元官网网址檛 communicate better.B次元官网网址�
San Francisco-based OpenAI first rolled out voice capabilities for ChatGPT, which included the five different voices, in September, allowing users to engage in back-to-forth conversation with the AI assistant. B次元官网网址淰oice ModeB次元官网网址� was originally just available to paid subscribers, but in November, OpenAI that the feature would become free for all users with the mobile app.
And ChatGPTB次元官网网址檚 interactions are becoming more and more sophisticated. Last week, OpenAI said the can mimic human cadences in its verbal responses and can even try to detect peopleB次元官网网址檚 moods.
OpenAI says the newest model, dubbed GPT-4o, works faster than previous versions and can reason across text, audio and video in real time. In a demonstration during OpenAIB次元官网网址檚 May 13 announcement, the AI bot chatted in real time, adding emotion B次元官网网址� specifically B次元官网网址渕ore dramaB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� to its voice as requested. It also took a stab at extrapolating a personB次元官网网址檚 emotional state by looking at a selfie video of their face, aided in language translations, step-by-step math problems and more.
GPT-4o, short for B次元官网网址渙mni,B次元官网网址� isnB次元官网网址檛 widely available yet. It will progressively make its way to select users in the coming weeks and months. The modelB次元官网网址檚 text and image capabilities have already begun rolling out, and is set to reach even some of those that use ChatGPTB次元官网网址檚 free tier B次元官网网址� but the new voice mode will just be available for paid subscribers of ChatGPT Plus.
While most have yet to get their hands on these newly announced features, the capabilities have conjured up even more comparisons to the Spike JonzeB次元官网网址檚 dystopian romance B次元官网网址淗er,B次元官网网址� which follows an introverted man (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with an AI-operating system (Johansson), leading to many complications.
Altman appeared to tap into this, too B次元官网网址� simply the word B次元官网网址渉erB次元官网网址� on the social media platform X the day of GPT-4oB次元官网网址檚 unveiling.
Many reacting to the modelB次元官网网址檚 demos last week also found some of the interactions struck a strangely flirtatious tone. In one posted by OpenAI, a female-voiced ChatGPT compliments a company employee on B次元官网网址渞ocking an OpenAI hoodie,B次元官网网址� for example, and in another the chatbot B次元官网网址渙h stop it, youB次元官网网址檙e making me blushB次元官网网址� after being told that itB次元官网网址檚 amazing.
ThatB次元官网网址檚 sparked some conversation on the gendered ways critics say tech companies have long used to develop and engage voice assistants B次元官网网址� dating back far before the latest wave of generative AI advanced the capabilities of AI chatbots. In 2019, the United NationsB次元官网网址� culture and science organization built into default female-voiced assistants (like AppleB次元官网网址檚 Siri to AmazonB次元官网网址檚 Alexa), even when confronted with sexist insults and harassment.
B次元官网网址淭his is clearly programmed to feed dudesB次元官网网址� egos,B次元官网网址� The Daily Show senior correspondent Desi Lydic said of GPT-4o in a segment last week. B次元官网网址淵ou can really tell that a man built this tech.B次元官网网址�
Wyatte Grantham-philips, The Associated Press
