Her? Scarlett Johansson criticizes OpenAI for using a voice very 'similar' to hers for ChatGPT AI

Actress Scarlett Johansson called out OpenAI for using an artificial voice “eerily similar” to hers for the ChatGPT A.I., according to a statement released by her public relations team.

In the statement, the actress, who starred in several hit films throughout her career, expressed her disagreement with the company's CEO Sam Altman and asked OpenAI to reveal what the synthetic voice development process for ChatGPT was like.

“I was shocked, angered, and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets couldn't tell the difference,” Johansson said in a statement.

The synthetic voice, called "Sky," is intended to communicate with ChatGPT users through speech. This is one of the various voice options that the program offered within the A.I. tool.

In the statement, Johansson revealed that Altman had approached her in 2023 to offer her to voice Sky, which she ultimately rejected, according to the actress.

“Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system,” Johansson wrote.

“He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and A.l. He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people,” Johansson explained. “After much consideration and for personal reasons, I declined the offer. Nine months later, my friends, family and the general public all noted how much the newest system named ‘Sky’ sounded like me.”

Subsequently, the actress made reference to a controversial post on Altman's X (Twitter) where the CEO of OpenAI only put the word “her.”

"Her" is a 2013 science fiction romantic film where Scarlett Johansson voiced the virtual assistant with whom the main character Theodore Twombly, played by Joaquin Phoenix, ends up falling in love.

“Mr Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word “her” - a reference to the film in which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who forms an intimate relationship with a human. Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider,” the actress wrote.

“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 OpenAl, setting out what they had done and asking them to detail the exact process by which they created the ‘Sky’ voice. Consequently, OpenAl reluctantly agreed to take down the ‘Sky’ voice."

Following the scandal, Sam Altman's company announced that it was working to take down the program temporarily, insisting that the synthetic voice was not intended to sound like Scarlett Johansson.

“We believe that A.I. voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice – Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice," the company announced. “To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talents.”

Finally, OpenAI said that Sky was created thanks to the work of different audition directors and independent producers, mentioning that the five voices were chosen from more than 400 submissions from voice and film actors.