Scarlett Johansson has released a statement in response to OpenAI allegedly recreating her voice in the latest ChatGPT system. Previously, on Monday 20 May, OpenAI (which runs the ChatGPT AI system) released a statement saying it would “pause” using the ‘Sky’ voice offered by the software, after users noticed it sounded like the actor.

In response to the release of the ‘Sky’ voice, Johansson released a statement about OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman.

“Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system,” Johansson said. “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 AI. He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people.”

Johansson continued to say that after “much consideration and for personal reasons” she declined the offer. However, she then noted that months later, the release of the ‘Sky’ voice on ChatGPT had many similarities to her own. “Nine months later, my friends, family and the general public all noted how much the newest system named ‘Sky’ sounded like me,” she said. “When I heard the released demo, 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 could not tell the difference.”

The actor went on to allege that the similarity between her own voice and the voice of ‘Sky’ was deliberate. “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,” she said. “Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. 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 OpenAI, setting out what they had done and asking them to detail the exact process by which they created the ‘Sky’ voice. Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the ‘Sky’ voice.

“In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity,” she said. “I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.”

In response to users noticing a similarity between the voices, OpenAI announced that it was aware of concerns. “We’ve heard questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT, especially Sky,” the company said. “We are working to pause the use of Sky while we address them.”

Images: Getty