Scarlett Johansson Is At War With Artificial Intelligence And Sam Altman
There's no acting when it comes to Scarlett Johansson going after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for using a similar-sounding voice to hers despite her specifically telling his company not to.
In a statement, the longtime actress said that she was "shocked, angered and in disbelief" that Altman would use a voice so similar to hers that her "closest friends and news outlets ]reached out to her] because they could not tell the difference."
Johansson details how nine months ago she was approached by Altman to be the voice of the OpenAI system in an effort to help the company "bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI."
In other words, OpenAI wanted Scarlett to be their "Welcome!" and "You've Got Mail!" America Online voice that would become easily identifiable with the brand.
However, the 2x Oscar Nominated actress says that despite declining and Altman even reaching out AGAIN just a few days ago and being turned down, they still released the voice, and she's furious. She has since hired legal counsel and demanded that they remove the "Sky" voice feature, to which Altman's AI company has done so.
You can hear the Johansson-sounding AI ‘Sky’ voice here:
SAM ALTMAN POWER MOVE
Although Altman and OpenAI have since come out and denied that the voice is Johansson's and claim it's another female voice actress, the billionaire techy did curiously tweet out one word the day that the Sky system dropped: "her."
The relevancy of the "her" word?
Well, that is the name of a movie in which Johansson voiced a chat system who formed an intimate relationship with a human. So, for Altman to all of a sudden, now plead ignorance - only after getting called out by the actress seems ignorant in itself.
MOST IMPORTANTLY
What we should be most concerned about is the dismissiveness of Altman. He simply didn't care that the actress said ‘No,’ he was going to do it anyway. There's a reason he came as close as possible to her voice without exactly using her voice: It shows the sheer power of AI.
Oh, you have such a unique singing voice? Well guess, I have an AI script that can do it not only the same but better. Oh, you have years of experience? Here's an AI algorithm that will do your taxes in a matter of minutes. Just wait until they start having fake news anchors.
And although AI does have its benefits - especially in the medical world, it comes with great concern. Yes, it was cool when AI was able to mimic singer Randy Travis's voice after he suffered a debilitating stroke that doesn't allow him to sing anymore. That is cool. But they at least did so WITH his permission.
The Artificial Intelligence industry believes that it is in the right. In many instances, it doesn't care about the individual, nor its name, image or likeness (That was part of what the Hollywood actor's union strike was about last year). Rather, these Big Tech companies care about the power grab and want to be the entity that engulfs the most data and can bring in the most revenue.
The real question will be - when is enough, enough?