VOA科学技术2024--Scarlett Johansson Says ChatGPT Voice 'Similar' to Hers

The American artificial intelligence company OpenAI has removed one of its ChatGPT voices. The move came after actor Scarlett Johansson said the voice sounded "eerily¹ similar" to her voice in the movie Her.

In a post Monday on the social media service X, OpenAI said it is "working to pause" Sky. That is the name of one of five voices that ChatGPT users can choose to speak with in its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.

In a statement, Johansson said that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had asked her last September if she would lend her voice to the ChatGPT system. Johansson said she declined the offer.

Johansson said, "When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine." She added that her close friends and even the news media "could not tell the difference" between her voice and the voice of Sky.

Johansson said OpenAI agreed to take down the Sky voice after her lawyers asked about the process by which the company came up with the voice.

OpenAI said in an online post that the voice of Sky belongs to a "different professional actress." But it added that it could not share the name of that actress for privacy reasons.

In an email sent to The Associated Press following Johansson's statement Monday, Altman said that OpenAI selected the voice actor behind Sky "before any outreach" to Johansson. "The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson's, and it was never intended to resemble hers," Altman added.

Voice Mode

OpenAI added voice capabilities² to ChatGPT last September. The feature is called "Voice Mode." It permits users to have a conversation with the AI assistant. In November, OpenAI announced that the feature would become free for all users with the mobile app.

Last week, OpenAI showed off its latest AI model, called ChatGPT-4o. The program lets users speak to the chatbot and get real-time answers. The chatbot now has emotion in its voice and even tries to understand a person's emotional state by looking at a selfie video of their face.

The capabilities have brought comparisons to the 2013 movie Her. The film follows a man who falls in love with an AI assistant, which is voiced by Johansson.

Altman appeared to make the same comparison. He wrote the word "her" on the social media service X on the day of GPT-4o's release.

Words in This Story

eerily - adv. strangely and mysteriously

pause - v. to stop temporarily

decline - v. to say no to something

demo - n. an example of a product

pursue - v. try to do something

resemble - v. to be like

capability³ - n. the ability to do something

1 eerily   

adv.引起神秘感或害怕地

参考例句：

• It was nearly mid-night and eerily dark all around her. 夜深了，到处是一片黑黝黝的怪影。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• The vast volcanic slope was eerily reminiscent of a lunar landscape. 开阔的火山坡让人心生怪异地联想起月球的地貌。 来自辞典例句

2 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。