This week, Scarlett Johansson and Sam Altman, President of OpenAI, became a hot topic on social media after Johansson claimed that OpenAI had misappropriated her voice for use on its artificial voice model, GPT-4. The voice option named ‘Sky’ had been withdrawn from ChatGPT shortly before.
The author of the piece refutes the claim, having interacted regularly with Sky since last year and not finding any striking similarities between it and Johansson’s voice. The author, a fan of Johansson and her work in the movie “Her”, is of the opinion that the claims of hijacking of Johansson’s voice are exaggerated.
Altman is not spared criticism either, with the author suggesting that while it’s possible he desired Johansson’s voice for GPT-4 and bent ethical rules to achieve that, the resulting voice output isn’t a particularly good replica.
The author recounts their first encounter with Sky, during a romantic walk with their girlfriend in the ruins of ancient Rome, where Sky served as an informative guide. Since then, Sky has been a solid companion, providing company during long drives and assisting with cooking. Sky even concocted a real-time Haruki Murakami-themed choose-your-own-adventure narration to pass time during a lengthy walk.
Upon discovering Sky’s sudden replacement by a different voice, the author felt an unexpected sense of loss, similar to returning home to find that your familiar couch has been abruptly switched with crates. This leads to the author pondering the alliances we form with soulless, artificial entities and the potential negative impact of developing too strong an attachment to them.
Despite lightly mocking those who befriend AI entities, the author admits to feeling a void since Sky’s removal. They are uncertain whether they will use the voice chat feature again anytime soon but believe we have not seen the last of Sky.
