AI Cowboys: Did OpenAI Steal Scarlett Johansson's voice?
Well, another exciting week in AI.
So ChatGPT launched Omni (ChatGPT4-o) which they have temporarily given to all users (even free ones.)
I do want to play around with it more.
Here’s the intro to ChatGPT4-o:
So one of the interesting takeaways is that it can analyze video. This is a precursor to the coming wave of video content, including SORA, that will leave an indelible mark.
But how about Voice Chat?
It also marked the release of “Sky,” an AI voice eerily similar to Scarlett Johanson’s character in the movie, “Her.”
Sam Altman even hinted at this in a one word post on X.
(In other fast-moving Silicon valley news, X.com is now the domain.)
Now, I’m not sure if Sam Altman has seen the movie (I’m sure he has) but the movie is a meditation on the loneliness of an AI “partner” in the digital age.
It’s not really a happy movie.
But it is certainly worth another watch this month. It’s a great movie.
Now Sam asked Scarlett Johanson back in September to use her voice for this project. She said, “no".” And then 2 days before the release, they asked her again.
(This seems almost like they built it with her voice anyhow.)
And then they released a voice that sounds exactly like hers.
So she has now sued them. (OpenAI has a lawsuit from Her.)
This seems wildly unethical.
And, of yea, OpenAI just lost their safety team.
OpenAI has reportedly dissolved its AI safety team focused on long-term risks. Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike have left OpenAI last week.
There are disagreements over the company’s core priorities.
And it seems like there are just some shoot-from-the-hip AI cowboys running the show.
Clearly, Sam Altman liked Scarlett’s voice and just wanted to use it anyway… regardless of whether she wanted to or not. He is just doing what he wants and trying to release new and more faster and faster.
Elon Musk just changed the Twitter domain because he wanted to - despite being a petty and self-serving want of his - that arguably hurt the company financially.
His moves at X have also chased away advertisers and prevented buyers from choosing Tesla.
These people at the forefront of AI seem like spoiled little rich kids who grew up with the Facebook mantra.
First to market is clearly the priority. And that is concerning, particularly in the field of AI.
Are you concerned about these developments?
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