Scarlett Johansson has suggested that Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, could make an excellent Marvel villain, complete with a robotic arm.
The Black Widow star’s comment came in the wake of a recent disagreement with Altman and OpenAI, as reported by The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd on Saturday.
Johansson’s remark emerged during discussions about her dispute with OpenAI over their GPT-4.0 model, launched in May, which featured various voice options.
The AI’s voice named “Sky” sparked controversy when social media users noted its striking similarity to the AI chatbot Johansson had voiced in Spike Jonze’s 2013 film “Her.”
The actress expressed shock, anger, and disbelief upon hearing the demo of OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4.0 model, which featured a voice resembling hers. In a statement released on May 20, she clarified that she had initially declined CEO Sam Altman’s offer to voice the AI back in September. However, Altman approached her again in May, just two days before the demo’s release on May 13.
“Before we could connect, the system was out there,” Johansson stated, highlighting the suddenness of the situation.
Following the backlash, OpenAI responded with a blog post on May 19, announcing a pause in the release of “Sky,” the voice in question. Altman emphasized that the voice actor for Sky was cast independently before any contact with Johansson, asserting that it was never intended to resemble her voice.
“We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn’t communicate better,” Altman acknowledged in a statement the next day. “We’ve heard questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT, especially Sky. We are working to pause the use of Sky while we address them.”
Johansson’s humorous suggestion of Altman as a Marvel villain adds an ironic twist to a serious dispute. Her comments underscore the broader implications of AI technology and its potential to mimic human voices, raising questions about consent and intellectual property in the digital age.
As the debate continues, both Johansson and OpenAI are left navigating the complexities of AI ethics and public relations in an increasingly interconnected world.