That’s What Her Said
When OpenAI launched its voice-powered version of ChatGPT, CEO Sam Altman really wanted one of the voices to be that of Scarlett Johansson, who voiced the computer companion in his favorite movie, Her. So OpenAI negotiated with Johansson. She said no to a deal. OpenAI kept trying, right up until the product launch. Johansson kept saying no. Then when the vocal version of ChatGPT launched, it had a voice called Sky. The rub? That voice sounds just like Scarlett Johansson. The actress then wrote a (Scarlett) letter detailing the negotiations and the breach of trust: “Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. Before we could connect, the system was out there. As a result of their actions, I was forced to hire legal counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAI, setting out what they had done and asking them to detail the exact process by which they created the ‘Sky’ voice. Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the ‘Sky’ voice.” On one hand, this seems like a minor story about potential litigation between tech company and a big-time star. But it represents more than that. As Casey Newton explains in Platformer, “Johansson is one of the world’s most famous actresses, and she speaks for an entire class of creatives who are now wrestling with the fact that automated systems have begun to erode the value of their work. OpenAI’s decision to usurp her voice for its own purposes will now get wide and justified attention.” OpenAI loses its voice. It’s about where our rights end and tech companies’ begin. And it’s yet another example that self-regulation of big tech is not the answer. Once the race for dominance begins, user rights and societal good go out the window. And that race may have never been more heated than it is right now in the world of AI. We need to talk about this stuff, in part because OpenAI employees can’t (as I covered yesterday: STFU About OpenAI). Better make your voice heard on these issues before someone else does.
+ “Setting aside the legal questions here, such behavior would align with some of the harshest criticism of Sam Altman and OpenAI — that it’s a company with little regard for the value of creative work led by a scheming, untrustworthy operator.” John Herrman in NY Mag: The Scarlett Johansson Incident Makes OpenAI Look Desperate.
