Path: ...!Xl.tags.giganews.com!local-1.nntp.ord.giganews.com!news.giganews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 25 May 2024 02:26:36 +0000 From: BTR1701 Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv Subject: Scarlett Johansson's Battle With OpenAI MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=fixed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit User-Agent: Usenapp/0.92.2/l for MacOS Message-ID: <4AGdncoJueTB0cz7nZ2dnZfqnPSdnZ2d@giganews.com> Date: Sat, 25 May 2024 02:26:36 +0000 Lines: 83 X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com X-Trace: sv3-9Rw0/LRl44pPBA5F740t+xQIgFhyqy2KsbE+w0Mo1Ne8ctbg7K+MU7JhPLWX7wWhCr7hzVsInlnynjG!+reXkARf4wbRGXDy9q4A0W43V35j9WoID1BR6U9mAEN5iWG+oQqU086nkNz+lmcF1l633+oW66hn X-Complaints-To: abuse@giganews.com X-DMCA-Notifications: http://www.giganews.com/info/dmca.html X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.40 Bytes: 5400 X-Original-Lines: 32 https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/ar-BB1mWLqa Scarlett Johansson's powerful Hollywood agent, Bryan Lourd, wanted answers when he made an urgent call to Sam Altman last week: What do you think you're doing? Altman's artificial intelligence powerhouse, OpenAI, had for months unsuccessfully courted Johansson, who memorably voiced an AI assistant in the 2013 film HER. Last September, Johansson turned down an offer to work with OpenAI and voice a new assistant feature. Altman didn't give up. In mid-May, he texted Lourd, co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency, asking if Johansson might reconsider-- he wanted to show the actress something he'd been working on, people familiar with the interaction said. The camps couldn't settle on a time to meet. Then on May 13, OpenAI showcased an updated AI system, equipped with new voice assistants for its Chat GPT tool, including a female named Sky. Johansson was surprised and angry. She and Lourd thought-- and others agreed-- that Sky's voice sounded "eerily similar" to the actress. Lourd and the actress spent the morning fielding calls and emails from friends and associates, some of whom worried that OpenAI had simply appropriated Johansson's voice without permission. When Lourd confronted Altman, however, the OpenAI chief executive was incredulous. Did they really think the voice sounded like Johansson? Was she mad? So began the most dramatic episode yet in the collision between Hollywood and the exploding world of artificial intelligence. The emergence of AI as a rapidly advancing and perhaps unstoppable force has sparked deep anxiety in creative industries that for decades have been governed by strict rules of how creators are compensated for their work. The reason is that the language models that power generative AI chat tools are typically made using text, images, music and videos hoovered up from across the internet. That can include material that is copyrighted, valuable and often paywalled-- like Scarlett Johansson's voice. Johansson-- who just three years ago waged a blistering and public legal campaign against Disney-- hired a legal team to demand answers from Altman and OpenAI and issued an excoriating statement. OpenAI, however, said Sky was never intended to resemble Johansson, and that the company had hired a voice actor who recorded the part before any outreach to Johansson. People close to Altman say he wanted Johansson to be involved in the voice project, potentially as an additional voice or to promote the product. OpenAI paused use of the Sky voice on Sunday after receiving legal letters from Johansson's team of representatives. Altman said Monday evening in a statement that he apologized for failing to communicate better. Altman has been the most visible face of the AI movement since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022 and ignited a global frenzy over AI technology. He and the company face numerous challenges, including a slew of copyright lawsuits and mounting pressure to advance its GPT-4 technology. It's also trying to move past its leadership crisis from last November, when OpenAI's then-board of directors fired Altman for failing to be "consistently candid". He was quickly reinstated as CEO. For performers like Johansson and IP owners, it is hard to prove whether their likeness or content has been misused. Regulations governing the systems are scant. Altman in a speech last year said he and other OpenAI executives were inspired by the 2013 film HER, in which a man falls in love with his AI assistant, voiced by Johansson. The company aimed to develop an assistant like Apple's Siri or Microsoft's Cortana that users could talk to. Last May, the company sent out a casting call looking for male, female, and nonbinary voices in the 25 to 45 age range. It wanted voices that were warm, engaging and charismatic, internal documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show. "Someone you instantly trust and feel a kinship with. Nothing 'put on'." It whittled down a list of 400 applicants and flew actors to San Francisco last June and July for recording sessions. The actors were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements and refrain from providing voice recordings to OpenAI's competitors for three years after the product launch, the documents show. OpenAI says that the actress who played Sky was recording in the studio last July.