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SAG-AFTRA Urges Legislation in Scarlett Johansson/OpenAI Statement

SAG-AFTRA issued a statement in the Scarlett Johansson/OpenAI matter, supporting Johansson and urging federal legislative protections.

The rumblings began last week when OpenAI previewed its new ChatGPT model's Voice Mode – an expressive voice meant to answer users' questions. More than a few people noticed how one of the voices was a little too similar to actress Scarlett Johansson's actual voice – an interesting irony considering the actress took on the voice of an emotive AI in her 2013 film Her. Shortly after, the issue ended up being a topic during Saturday Night Live co-head writers and "Weekend Update" anchors Colin Jost & Michael Che's "Joke Swap" this past weekend. "ChatGPT has released a new voice assistant feature inspired by Scarlett Johansson's AI character in 'Her,'" Jost began the joke written by Che about Jost's wife, Johansson. "Which I've never bothered to watch because without that body, what's the point of listening."

Less than 48 hours later, OpenAI posted a statement on its blog site announcing that it was pausing its Voice Mode in light of the reactions it had been receiving. "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 statement read at one point. However, the company also looked to make it clear that the voice many believed belonged to Johansson was actually from another actress. "We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity's distinctive voice – 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 blog post added.

Later that day, Johansson issued a lengthy statement in which she expressed her concerns about her voice being used without her authorization, noting that she hired legal counsel to address the matter after the demo went live. The actress went on to say that she still has questions regarding how OpenAI acquired the voice in question (Johansson's statement is below) – urging "the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected." Earlier today, SAG-AFTRA issued a statement in support of Johansson and also supporting the passage of federal legislation. Under the heading, "SAG-AFTRA is championing federal legislation that would protect members' voices and likenesses — and everyone else's as well — from unauthorized digital replication," the statement reads:

"We thank Ms. Johansson for speaking out on this issue of crucial importance to all SAG-AFTRA members. We share in her concerns and fully support her right to have clarity and transparency regarding the voice used in developing the Chat GPT-4o appliance 'Sky'. SAG-AFTRA members are among the most talented and often most recognizable people on the planet. That is why we're strongly championing federal legislation that would protect their voices and likenesses — and everyone else's as well — from unauthorized digital replication. We are pleased that Open AI has responded to these concerns and paused their use of 'Sky,' and we look forward to working with them and other industry stakeholders to enshrine transparent and resilient protections for all of us."

Scarlett Johansson Issues Statement on OpenAI/ChatGPT

On Monday, Johansson released a statement offering a timeline on her communications with Altman and Open AI. "Last September, I received an offer from [OpenAI CEO] Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system. He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and Al. He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people," the statement begins, with Johansson noting that "after much consideration and for personal reasons," she "declined the offer."

Johansson goes on to write, "Nine months later, my friends, family and the general public all noted how much the newest system named 'Sky' sounded like me." From there, the actress expresses that she was "shocked, angered and in disbelief" over how similar the voice in the released demo sounded to her – while also noting a reference she believes that Altman made to her 2013 film. "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 that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference," the statement continues. "Mr. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word 'her' – a reference to the film in which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who forms an intimate relationship with a human."

Johansson goes on to say that Altman reached out to her agent with the hope of getting the actress to reconsider but didn't wait for a response before rolling out a demo of the Voice Mode: "Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. Before we could connect, the system was out there." Johansson continued, "As a result of their actions, I was forced to hire legal counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAl, setting out what they had done and asking them to detail the exact process by which they created the 'Sky' voice. Consequently, OpenAl reluctantly agreed to take down the 'Sky' voice."

Johansson ended her statement with her hopes – both in the short-term and long-term – when it comes to this matter and other matters involving artificial intelligence and the right to control one's likeness. "In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity. I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected"

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