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OpenAI is working to pause the use of a voice called Sky used in the audible version of ChatGPT after users noted that it sounded like actress Scarlett Johansson.
“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,” said the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)-backed company in a blog post on Sunday.
The company added that to protect the actors’ privacy, it cannot share the names of its voice talents.
Johansson had played a fictional virtual assistant in a film known as Her, about a man who falls in love with an AI system.
“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 company said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
In September 2023, OpenAI launched voice capabilities to give users another way to interact with ChatGPT. The company noted that each of the voices— Breeze, Cove, Ember, Juniper and Sky— are sampled from voice actors it has partnered with to create them.
The AI startup said that the five voices were selected via an extensive process spanning five months involving professional voice actors, talent agencies, casting directors, and industry advisors.
In addition, a new voice mode is coming to GPT-4o for paid users. OpenAI said it plans to give access to the new Voice Mode for GPT-4o in alpha to ChatGPT Plus users in the coming weeks.
The company also plans to introduce additional voices in ChatGPT to better match the diverse interests and preferences of users.
Last week, OpenAI introduced its latest “flagship model” GPT-4o which according to the company is not only faster than GPT-4 but also improves on its capabilities across voice, text and imaging.