OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show (washingtonpost.com)

Article summary

According to documents and recordings, OpenAI hired an actress to create the voice for ChatGPT's 'Sky' months before contacting Scarlett Johansson, contradicting claims that they copied her voice. The voice in question bears an eerie resemblance to Johansson's character in the movie 'Her'. OpenAI's actions have sparked a debate about voice ownership and the potential for AI to replicate unique voices. The company has faced criticism and potential legal action over the issue.

Main themes

• Voice ownership
• AI voice replication
• Intellectual property
• Celebrity endorsements
• Tech ethics

What commenters say

• The average person's perception of voice similarity should be the deciding factor in cases of alleged voice copying, rather than technical analysis of spectrograms.
• Hiring an actress who sounds like Scarlett Johansson does not necessarily constitute copying her voice, as she does not own the rights to anyone else's voice.
• The value of a unique voice is diminished if it can be perfectly replicated by AI, making it a potentially obsolete commodity.
• OpenAI's actions, including taking down the voice and investigating the matter, suggest that they may have believed they had crossed a line in replicating Johansson's voice.
• The case highlights the need for clearer laws and regulations regarding AI-generated content and intellectual property rights.
• Some argue that the tech is not yet advanced enough to perfectly replicate human voices, and that human voice actors will still be preferred for their emotive nuance.
• Others believe that if the tech is good enough, there will be no point in basing AI voices on human actors, and original, fabricated voices will become the norm.
• The incident has sparked concerns among voice actors about the potential for their voices to be used without permission and the need for protection and legislation to prevent this.