OpenAI has eliminated GPT-4o’s “Sky” voice after Scarlett Johansson stated the corporate deliberately copied her voice.

GPT-4o wowed us with the natural-sounding voices throughout a demo of the soon-to-be-released Voice Mode. Actress Scarlett Johansson says that GPT-4o’s Sky sounds uncannily like her personal voice and it’s onerous to dismiss her declare that this was intentional.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has argued that this was not the case and that any resemblance is only coincidental.

In a weblog put up outlining the method of how GPT-4o acquired its voices, OpenAI stated, “We consider that AI voices mustn’t intentionally mimic a celeb’s distinctive voice—Sky’s voice isn’t an imitation of Scarlett Johansson however belongs to a special skilled actress utilizing her personal pure talking voice.”

Johansson disagreed and instituted authorized proceedings that sought additional element concerning the reality behind Sky’s voice.

In a prolonged assertion, Johansson defined her causes for believing that the resemblance to her voice was intentional.

Her assertion stated partially, “Final September, I obtained a proposal from Sam Altman, who wished to rent me to voice the present ChatGPT 4.0 system. He informed me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I may bridge the hole between tech corporations and creatives and assist shoppers to really feel comfy with the seismic shift regarding people and A.I.

“He stated he felt that my voice can be comforting to folks. After a lot consideration and for private causes, I declined the supply. 9 months later, my associates, household and most of the people all famous how a lot the latest system named ‘Sky’ appeared like me.

“After I heard the launched demo, I used to be shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily just like mine that my closest associates and information retailers couldn’t inform the distinction.”

Altman didn’t do his argument any favors when he posted this single phrase put up on X after the GPT-4o announcement.

her

— Sam Altman (@sama) Could 13, 2024

His put up references Altman‘s favourite film, “Her”, wherein Scarlett Johansson performs the voice expertise behind a digital assistant with whom Joaquin Phoenix’s character falls in love.

Even so, Altman insists that the 5 voices GPT-4o has had been whittled down from 400 submissions from voice actors and any similarity to different folks’s voices is unintentional.

In a press release offered to The Verge, Altman stated, “The voice of Sky isn’t Scarlett Johansson’s, and it was by no means meant to resemble hers. We solid the voice actor behind Sky’s voice earlier than any outreach to Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we’ve paused utilizing Sky’s voice in our merchandise. We’re sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn’t talk higher.”

Once we finally get entry to GPT-4o’s Voice Mode will probably be rather less sultry than the unique demo.