Researchers Confirm Scarlett Johansson’s Voice Resembles OpenAI’s Sky; Controversy Persists
The buzz around OpenAI’s new Sky voice isn’t going away anytime soon. Researchers discovered that Sky sounds remarkably similar to Hollywood actor Scarlett Johansson. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, has admitted to the similarity but claims it was unintentional as per Inc. This situation has raised concerns about the rapid pace of AI advancements and the potential consequences.
Research findings highlight similarities in OpenAI’s Sky’s voice with Scarlett Johansson
National Public Radio (NPR) conducted a study that compared Sky’s voice to samples from over 600 actors. Sky’s voice was found to be more similar to Scarlett Johansson’s than to 98 percent of the other actors. Visar Berisha of Arizona State University, who led the study, stated that “the two voices are similar but likely not identical.”
Researchers noted a few differences: Sky’s voice is slightly higher in pitch, breathier, and more expressive than Johansson’s typical tone. Surprisingly, Sky’s voice sometimes sounded more like Anne Hathaway or Keri Russell.
However, the resemblance to Johansson is still striking. The analysis also discovered that the physical characteristics of Sky’s voice are very similar to Johansson’s real voice.
OpenAI’s response and industry reactions
CEO Sam Altman addressed the controversy at a recent conference, clarifying that “It’s not her voice. It’s not supposed to be.” He also apologized, saying, “I’m sorry for the confusion.”
Altman’s social media post during the GPT-4o launch, which simply stated ‘her,’ fueled speculation even more. Mira Murati, OpenAI CTO, admitted she hadn’t noticed the resemblance to Johansson’s voice until people started making comparisons.
The actors’ union SAG-AFTRA has held serious discussions about the effects of AI voice cloning. They’ve changed their contracts to state that only humans can be referred to as ‘voice actors’ in animated television shows and games.
Scarlett Johansson’s reaction
According to reports, Scarlett Johansson is genuinely upset about how much Sky’s voice resembles her own. OpenAI actually asked her to use her voice for GPT-4o, but she declined. Someone close to Johansson, a co-founder of her skincare brand, stated that she is careful about who can use her voice. This implies that discovering Sky’s resemblance to her voice must have been particularly upsetting for her.
Apple and other companies are looking into future uses for this technology. For example, they want to help people maintain their voices even if they become ill and are unable to speak. However, what is happening with Sky indicates that we must exercise extreme caution when dealing with such matters. We need to put rules in place to prevent it from being misused and to protect everyone’s rights.
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