OpenAI announced that it would remove “Sky,” one of the ChatGPT voices, due to backlash over its similarity to actress Scarlett Johansson’s voice in the artificial intelligence film “Her.”
TakeAway Points:
- OpenAI declared on Sunday that it will be eliminating “Sky,” one of ChatGPT’s “voices,” which caused controversy because of its striking similarity to actress Scarlett Johansson’s voice.
- The Microsoft-backed business posted on X, “We have received inquiries about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT, notably Sky.” “While we address them, we are working to pause the use of Sky.”
- In the science fiction movie “Her” from 2013, Johansson played the lead role of Samantha, an artificial intelligence system that develops feelings for a man.
ChatGPT Voice Over
“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.” the Microsoft-backed company posted on X.
In the science fiction movie “Her” from 2013, Johansson plays Samantha, an artificial intelligence system that a man falls in love with.
The announcement was made a week after OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT’s desktop version, a new AI model named GPT-4o, and a variety of audio voices for the chatbot.
Voice Selection
As soon as the live demonstration of ChatGPT’s audio capabilities started, people started mentioning on social media that the “Sky” voice resembled Johansson from the film. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, merely wrote “she” in a post on X, which appeared to allude to the movie.
The five voices of the chatbot—Breeze, Cove, Ember, Juniper, and Sky—were chosen over the course of a five-month casting and recording process, according to a Sunday blog post from OpenAI. According to the organisation, casting pros reviewed about 400 voice and screen actor entries before narrowing the pool to only 14. Then an internal team selected the final five.
“Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice. To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talents.” the company wrote.
Test Voice Mode
According to recent blog entries, OpenAI intends to test Voice Mode in the upcoming weeks and add more voices, with early access available to ChatGPT Plus premium customers. Additionally, according to OpenAI, the new model can react to audio cues from users “in as little as 232 milliseconds, with an average of 320 milliseconds, which is equivalent to human response time in a conversation.”
Investors have estimated the company, which was created in 2015, to be worth more than $80 billion. It must find ways to turn a profit while leading the generative AI business, as it is spending enormous sums on infrastructure and processors to develop and train its models.
AI-powered Chatbot Game
Companies in almost every industry are racing to incorporate AI-powered chatbots and agents to stay ahead of the competition. OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google are leading this generative AI gold rush. Rival OpenAI startup Anthropic debuted a free iPhone app and its first enterprise offering earlier this month.
In 2023, a record $29.1 billion was invested in roughly 700 generative AI transactions, up over 260% from the previous year, according to PitchBook. Within a ten-year period, the market is expected to generate revenue exceeding $1 trillion.
In last week’s live presentation, OpenAI team members demonstrated ChatGPT’s audio capabilities. For example, the chatbot was asked to help calm someone before a public speech.
Mark Chen, an OpenAI researcher, instructed the model to alter its voice tone from a gentle, bedtime story to one that sounded more robotic or dramatic. In fact, he asked it to sing the narrative. Additionally, the group requested that it interpret a user’s facial expressions to speculate about possible feelings.
“Hey there, what’s up? How can I brighten your day today?” ChatGPT’s audio mode said when a user greeted it.
