OpenAI’s Scarlett Johansson-like AI voice was discontinued after harsh criticism

ChatGPT decided to discontinue its newly launched AI voice after users commented that it looked too similar to Scarlett Johansson in the movie “Her”.
Previously, Sam Altman asked for permission to use the actress’s voice but was refused.
The company then held many auditions and screened more than 400 candidates before finalizing the top 5 voices, a whole process that took about 5 months.

ChatGPT, the leading AI tool in the world, had to kill a voice named “Sky” after being discovered by the online community as being too similar to the voice of star Scarlett Johansson in the movie “Her” – a movie about artificial intelligence starring Joaquin Phoenix. Many people probably don’t know, these voices are used to read ChatGPT’s responses, making the user experience more interesting.

“We have received a lot of questions about how to choose a voice in ChatGPT, especially the Sky voice. We are temporarily suspending the use of the Sky voice to resolve this issue.” – OpenAI

It all started last week, when the company launched a series of new products, including new AI voices, ChatGPT-4o and the desktop version of ChatGPT. The voice reading “Sky” immediately caused a fever and was loved by many people, but many observant people also noticed the suspicious similarity with Scarlett Johansson’s voice.

“Sky” gossips like a real person

Not only is the voice so similar that it makes people startled, “Sky” is also programmed to have a bit of a flirtatious vibe, making many users feel uncomfortable, even annoyed. But I think it’s true, an AI that likes to talk nonsense is really strange!

“Sky” kept giggling at everything, even saying things like “Oh, your outfit is so beautiful!” or “Come on, you’re making me blush.” Listening to this gives me goosebumps!

On social networks, many users have voiced harsh criticism, saying that this voice sounds like “a woman written by a man”, reeks of fakeness and deliberately attracts views. Others are more straightforward, arguing that there is no need to make the AI ​​voice so flirtatious and obsequious, making people feel like they are being harassed.

Faced with a wave of fierce protests, OpenAI also had to explain. They said that when looking for the right voice for ChatGPT, their goal was a voice that was approachable, engaging and “timeless.” The company also confirmed that all voice actors were clearly briefed on the company’s vision before the project was completed, meaning they all knew what they were getting into.

However, this explanation does not seem to really convince the online community, and “Sky” is still the focus of many heated debates on social networks. Many people believe that creating a flirting AI voice was a misstep for OpenAI.

They are concerned that this could lead to unpredictable consequences, especially in the context of AI technology being increasingly developed and widely applied. Do we want to live in a world where machines also know how to flirt and manipulate human emotions?

Is that voice Scarlett Johansson’s or someone else’s?

Although users claim that “Sky”‘s voice is incredibly similar to Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI still insists that it is not the female star’s voice. According to the company, all five recently released voices, including Juniper, Ember, Cove, Breeze and Sky, were recorded by professional voice artists without any AI technology involved. here too.

To choose these voices, OpenAI had to go through an extremely rigorous selection process. They received more than 400 applications from all over the world, from which 14 best people were selected to participate in the direct interview round. Finally, an internal panel finalized the five voices that best fit the company’s criteria. This entire process lasted 5 months, proving that OpenAI has invested a lot of effort and enthusiasm in creating high-quality AI voices.

However, the story doesn’t stop there. According to Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman contacted her 9 months ago to offer to buy her voice rights. However, Scarlett refused for “personal reasons”, perhaps because she did not want her voice to be used for commercial purposes or abused by AI technology.

Yet just two days before launching the new product, Altman contacted Johansson’s team to ask her to reconsider her decision. However, this time the actress did not have any response, and OpenAI still decided to proceed with the launch event as planned.

Sure enough, just a few minutes after the live introduction, the online community was abuzz with posts comparing the voice of “Sky” with Scarlett Johansson’s voice. Even a post on X by Sam Altman on May 13 with the short content “her” made public opinion even more suspicious about the connection between these two voices.

Although it’s just a guess, many people believe that this is a reference to the movie “Her”. This shows that Altman absolutely knows what he is doing. Did he want to “glorify” copying Johansson’s voice without permission?

However, this joke could get OpenAI into legal trouble. Johansson’s legal team sent two letters asking OpenAI to clearly show how they created an AI voice identical to the actress.

“I was shocked, angry and couldn’t believe that Mr. Altman deliberately created a voice so similar to mine that even close friends and the press couldn’t tell the difference,” Scarlett Johansson shared.

This incident once again rings the alarm bell about the problem of deepfake and AI, which makes it difficult for many people, especially artists, to protect their images, works and identities. In fact, earlier this year, sensitive deepfake images of Taylor Swift spread rapidly online, attracting the attention of US lawmakers.

With the continuous development of AI technology, copying other people’s voices and images is becoming increasingly easier. This not only violates privacy rights but can also cause serious consequences, such as defamation, fraud, and even inciting violence. Therefore, protecting the copyright and rights of artists in the digital age is extremely necessary.

When will OpenAI’s “Voice” mode launch?

Even though the controversy about “Sky’s” voice resembling a Hollywood star has not subsided, ChatGPT is still confidently moving forward and preparing to launch the Voice Mode feature in the next few weeks. It seems OpenAI is not letting these controversies affect its plans.

According to information from the company’s blog, paid users will have priority to experience this new feature sooner, and in the future, more voices will be added to meet diverse needs. of the user. Regarding the capabilities of Voice Mode, this feature promises to bring unprecedented interesting and convenient experiences, such as:

With such attractive features, Voice Mode promises to bring a new breeze to ChatGPT user experience, helping them interact with AI more naturally and intuitively than ever. However, with controversies over copyright and ethical issues related to the “Sky” voice, OpenAI will face many challenges to regain user trust and ensure that this new feature will be used “responsibly”.