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OpenAI has recently made the decision to discontinue the use of one of their voices from ChatGPT after actress Scarlett Johansson raised concerns about its similarity to her own voice. The company announced on social media that they are working on suspending the voice named Sky, which is one of the five voices users can choose to interact with the AI assistant.
Johansson first brought up her concerns after hearing a demo released by OpenAI, which she said sounded eerily similar to her own voice. She revealed that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had reached out to her last September to ask if she could provide a voice for the system, but she declined, stating that she was shocked and angry at the similarity between her voice and the one used in the AI system.
In response to backlash from Johansson and others, OpenAI decided to remove Sky’s voice from ChatGPT. The company also clarified that they believe AI voices should not intentionally copy a celebrity’s voice, and that Sky’s voice actually belongs to another professional actress. However, due to privacy reasons, they were unable to disclose the actress’s name.
Altman, CEO of OpenAI, apologized for any confusion caused by their choice of Sky’s voice and stated that it was never their intention for it to sound like Johansson’s. He explained that they had chosen Sky’s voice before contacting Johansson and emphasized that users can now choose from the remaining voices – Breeze, Cove, Juniper, and Ember – for their interactions with ChatGPT. With this change, users can continue to engage with ChatGPT in a unique way while respecting privacy concerns.
