Scarlett Johansson talks about the reasons she turned down the job of voicing the OpenAI chatbot.
Last year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman contacted the 39-year-old actress about potentially hiring her to voice the ChatGPT 4.0 system.
In an interview with The New York Times, Johansson, who voiced the character of Samantha, an artificial intelligence virtual assistant in the 2013 film “Her,” recalled that she said, “No, thank you. Not for me,” when Altman approached. he about the gig.
“I think I don’t want to be at the forefront,” Johansson told the Times. “I just felt it was against my core values.”
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Scarlett Johansson talks about refusing to voice an OpenAI chatbot. (Paolo Blocco/FilmMagic)
Johansson explained that concerns about her children’s reactions also contributed to her decision to turn down the project.
“The Avengers” star shares daughter, 9, with ex-husband Romain Dauriac, 42, and son Cosmo, 2, with husband Colin Jost, 42.
“I don’t like to kiss and tell. He came with me, and I didn’t tell anyone except my wife,” Johansson said about receiving a job proposal from Altman.
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“I also felt for my children it would be strange,” he added. “I try to remember them.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to OpenAI representatives for comment.
Johnasson told the outlet he was worried about AI, which he described as “nebulous,” and the uncertainty about its future implications.
Johansson said she only told her husband Colin Jost about the job offer. (Getty Images)
In May, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, which features a voice called “Sky.” At the time, many observers pointed out that Sky’s voice had an uncanny resemblance to Johansson’s voice.
On the same day the technology debuted, Altman took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and posted only “him.”
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Johansson then shared a statement, saying, “When I heard the demo that was released, I was shocked, angry and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice so similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets couldn’t tell the difference.”
“Mr. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting one word ‘she,’ a reference to the film in which I voiced the chat system, Samantha, who forms an intimate relationship with humans,” Johansson added.
The actress said the gig would be “weird” for her children. (Arturo Holmes/WireImage)
Johansson told the Times that “the voice was introduced to the wild, it was real. Suddenly, I got all these messages.”
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“I’ve been actively avoiding being part of the conversation, which makes it annoying,” she added. “I was like, ‘How did I get wrapped up in this?’
“This is crazy. I’m so angry.”
In a May statement, Johansson wrote that her legal team had sent two letters to the tech company asking them to explain how the personal assistant’s voice could be used in AI technology.
Johansson expressed concern about deepfake technology. (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
Altman later issued a statement to FOX Business about Sky’s voice.
“Sky’s voice is not Scarlett Johansson, and no one is meant to resemble her. We cast a voice actor behind Sky’s voice before contacting Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have taken a break from using Sky’s voice in our products. We thank Ms. .Johansson that we don’t communicate better,” he said in a statement.
Speaking to the Times, Johansson expressed concern about deepfake technology and the lack of laws governing its use.
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“It’s like this dark wormhole you can’t get out of,” said the two-time Academy Award nominee.
“If you try to take something down in one area, it pops up somewhere else. There are other countries that have different rules and regulations. If your ex-partner puts out revenge, deepfake porn, your whole life can be completely ruined.”
Janelle Ash of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
