SAG-AFTRA applauds Scarlett Johansson for rebuking OpenAI over voice that sounded like her
SAG-AFTRA, the labor union that represents thousands of Hollywood actors, commended Scarlett Johansson for publicly calling out OpenAI for using a voice that sounded "eerily similar" to hers in its new GPT-4o model.
"We thank Ms. Johansson for speaking out on this issue of crucial importance to all SAG-AFTRA members," a spokesperson for the guild said in a statement Tuesday. "We share in her concerns and fully support her right to have clarity and transparency regarding the voice used in developing the Chat GPT-4o appliance 'Sky.'"
"SAG-AFTRA members are among the most talented and often most recognizable people on the planet," the union spokesperson added. "That is why we’re strongly championing federal legislation that would protect their voices and likenesses — and everyone else’s as well — from unauthorized digital replication."
Johansson, who voiced an advanced artificial intelligence chatbot in the 2013 movie "Her," said in a statement Monday that she was "shocked, angered and in disbelief" that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman "would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference."
She said Altman contacted her in September and said he wanted to hire her to voice the GPT-4o system. She said she ultimately declined his offer.
"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," she said.
"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," she said.
In response to a request for comment Monday, Altman said in a statement sent by a spokesperson that the voice of "Sky" was not meant to sound like Johansson and was selected before he reached out to her last fall.
"The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson's, and it was never intended to resemble hers," Altman said. "We cast the voice actor behind Sky's voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky's voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn't communicate better."
In its statement, SAG-AFTRA said it welcomed OpenAI's decision to hit pause on "Sky."
"We are pleased that OpenAI has responded to these concerns and paused their use of ‘Sky,’ and we look forward to working with them and other industry stakeholders to enshrine transparent and resilient protections for all of us," it said.
The rapid rise of voice imitation technologies has stoked intense anxiety about everything from political disinformation to creative professionals' effectively losing their livelihoods.
SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America went on strike last summer in part because of consternation over the future of generative AI in the entertainment industry, including technology that could replace a performer's likeness or voice.
In a news conference in July, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher warned that "artificial intelligence poses an existential threat to creative professions."
OpenAI drew criticism from other prominent voices this week. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said on X on Monday night that he found it "alarming that an AI company just seems to have gone ahead and lifted a voice of an actual person without permission or compensation."
"The impunity is even more worrisome for performers who aren’t already popular," the Democratic lawmaker added. "The right to one’s own image and voice must be protected."
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
