• EatATaco@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    41
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    But if OpenAI didn’t do anything wrong, why would it take down the voice?

    This almost made me stop reading. What a garbage point, if someone is offended by something I did, even if I did nothing wrong, I don’t do it to them again because I’m not an asshole. He’s clearly an asshole who tried to use her voice anyway, but this line of questioning is garbage…decent people apologize all the time when they’ve done nothing wrong, and then not do the offending thing again, without admitting guilt.

    But the design choice is worrying on an ethical level. Researchers say it reinforces sexist stereotypes of women as servile beings who exist only to do someone else’s bidding — to help them, comfort them, and plump up their ego.

    And this is where I stopped. If they had used a male voice, they could have argued that they were excluding women. But they did a study and picked the voice people would respond to the best. And objective choice. The author set out to find sexism, and by golly they did it. Amazing.

    • A7thStone@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      5 months ago

      What a garbage point, if someone is offended by something I did, even if I did nothing wrong, I don’t do it to them again because I’m not an asshole.

      Putting aside the jury still being out in the last part of that statement, Sam Altman has showed himself to not only be an asshole, but an asshole who will do anything he thinks he can get away with. So the statement you took issue with “but if OpenAI didn’t do anything wrong, why would it take down the voice” is accurate. Considering the pattern of behavior from Altman and OpenAI that action is a rather implicit admission of guilt.

      • EatATaco@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        5 months ago

        They did something wrong. We both agree.

        But the suggestion that doing something to correct the offense is considered an admission of guilt is garbage logic. This is why people are so hesitant to apologize or move to correct perceived wrongs, because people treat doing so as an admission that you did something wrong.

    • Drewelite@lemmynsfw.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      6 months ago

      Yeah this is a real: “Let me find a problem and not let them apologize.” You don’t like Open AI. Ok. I’m sure you have a good reason. So focus on that and stop contriving controversy. You’re not changing any minds like that. That only gets kudos from people that already agree with you.

      • EatATaco@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        5 months ago

        They do have 2 male voices. The article is complaining about the choice of sky for the demo.

      • toofpic@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        5 months ago

        There is a choice of different voices, it wasn’t and isn’t a problem. But Sky was the best in my opinion, so even if I support the right of ms Johansson to not hear her voice out of every device, it’s personally kinda sad that they’re removing it

    • VerticaGG@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      The potential of a “exclusion argument” does not justify reinforcing the servile, assistant stereotype. Researchers arent pulling that one out of their ass.

      I could pull together a youtube playlist of beardy men explaining why woman hating is bad. Would you like that?

      (Edit: Rhetorical. We can all see your true colors with the “gay agenda” conspiracy pushing bs.)

      • EatATaco@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        5 months ago

        The potential of a “exclusion argument” does not justify reinforcing the servile, assistant stereotype.

        My point is that no matter what openai did, the author could have found sexism in it. It’s not hard to create something like this if you’re really trying.

        I could pull together a youtube playlist of beardy men explaining why woman hating is bad. Would you like that?

        I don’t follow.

        (Edit: Rhetorical. We can all see your true colors with the “gay agenda” conspiracy pushing bs.)

        Lol. I’ve been an lbgtq ally probably even before you were born. The fact that I can see that this ridiculously biased source for what it is doesn’t make me a conspiracy theorist against gay people.

        Thanks for demonstrating my point. You were desperate to reveal my “try colors” and, by golly, you were going to find it regardless of how much you had to spin.

    • CaptnNMorgan@reddthat.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      5 months ago

      Well what about the fact that they asked her to do it multiple times and right before they launched it the CEO tweeted the word “Her”?

      • EatATaco@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        5 months ago

        He’s clearly an asshole who tried to use her voice anyway

        Can you explain to me what you think this line meant?Because I’m not sure how I could have made it more clear.

        • CaptnNMorgan@reddthat.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          5 months ago

          I don’t really care what the article says or what opinions the author has. I’m just asking what you think about those facts involving the subject of said articles.

          • EatATaco@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            5 months ago

            I believe I’ve already answered your question, with the statement I quoted, which is why I’m asking you what you think that means.

            • CaptnNMorgan@reddthat.com
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              5 months ago

              My bad, I thought you were quoting the article, not yourself. It’s clear now I wasn’t seeing the difference between disagreeing with the article and disagreeing with them fucking up. It’s no excuse but I was probably high, I am right now too

              • EatATaco@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                4
                ·
                5 months ago

                Lol I’m over it. Enjoy. I’m hoping to join you real soon out in this nice weather we’re having.

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    25
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    IMO it sounded fake, not fake like artificial or not being real, but more like not being honest or genuine. Like a bit too much or over-attached girlfriend.
    Don’t get me wrong, it was very impressive, but IMO they should tone down the fake enthusiasm.

  • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    Even if they hired an actress with a similar voice to train the AI to sound similar to Johansonn, celebrity impersonators have been doing that for (I’d guess) longer than recorded voice media has even existed. I’m having a hard time seeing why one is fine but the other isn’t.

    Edit: corrected bad spelling of her name.

    • GamingChairModel@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      23
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      6 months ago

      I’m having a hard time seeing why one is fine but the other isn’t.

      I think the law says that neither is fine, in the context here. The law allows celebrity impersonators to engage in parody and commentary, but not to actually use their impersonation skills to endorse products, engage in fraud, and pretend to be that person being impersonated.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        6 months ago

        But this is just using a voice. It might even be their natural voice. I don’t think there’s fraud because it wasn’t presented as Scarlett’s voice. If it wasn’t presented as not her voice, then maybe those other two would apply, though is allowing a service to use your voice the same as endorsement? Is it enough to sound like someone to be considered impersonating them?

        This situation lands in a grey area where I can’t endorse or condemn it. I mean, it would have been smarter to just use a different voice. Find a celebrity that would sign on or just use an unrecognisable voice. Ethical or not, and legal or not, it was stupid.

        • zik@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          11
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          6 months ago

          It was explicitly represented as her voice when he tweeted “Her” in relation to the product, referencing a movie which she voiced. It’s not a legal grey area in the US. He sank his own ship here.

        • GamingChairModel@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          6 months ago

          I’m mostly going off of this article and a few others I’ve read. This article notes:

          Celebrities have previously won cases over similar-sounding voices in commercials. In 1988, Bette Midler sued Ford for hiring one of her backup singers for an ad and instructing the singer to “sound as much as possible like the Bette Midler record.” Midler had refused to be in the commercial. That same year, Tom Waits sued Frito-Lay for voice misappropriation after the company’s ad agency got someone to imitate Waits for a parody of his song in a Doritos commercial. Both cases, filed in California courts, were decided in the celebrities’ favor. The wins by Midler and Waits “have clear implications for AI voice clones,” says Christian Mammen, a partner at Womble Bond Dickinson who specializes in intellectual property law.

          There’s some more in there:

          To win in these cases, celebrities generally have to prove that their voice or other identifying features are unregistered trademarks and that, by imitating them, consumers could connect them to the product being sold, even if they’re not involved. That means identifying what is “distinctive” about her voice — something that may be easier for a celebrity who played an AI assistant in an Oscar-winning movie.

          I think taken with the fact that the CEO made a direct reference to the movie she voiced an AI assistant when announcing the product, that’s enough that a normal person would “connect them to the product being sold.”

        • Paragone@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          6 months ago

          I read that Scarlett’s family & friends couldn’t tell it apart from her actual voice.

          I’d say that “Open AI” or whatever they’re called, trained it specifically on only her voice.

          The seems-narcissistic-machiavellian-sociopath-CEO whats-his-face tried to get her to agree to this,

          she wouldn’t agree,

          he tweeted “her” when releasing the update ( after Scarlett’s movie )

          she lawyered up,

          he backed down…


          I’d say it’s a clear case of identity-theft-for-profit of a celebrity, by a consistently narcissistic-machiavellian-sociopath who’s kinda leaving lots of corpses of “integrity” all over the place.

          There’s some law which protects celebrities from use of their likeness, and rightly:

          it’s their “coin” that their career is made-of, right?

          _ /\ _

          • mojofrododojo@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            5 months ago

            frankly I’m amazed they tried to pull this shit when it was so obvious and Johannson obviously wasn’t on board.

    • stellargmite@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      6 months ago

      Legally maybe its fine, I’m not sure. But because they tried to license or get permission and involvement officially from her, but she declined, then they asked again , she declined again and two days later they released it with (possibly) her voice anyway. At best it displays them to be bad faith plundering abusers including of individuals’ likenesses. We in this type of forum are not surprised of course - its par for the course with these tech bros who’ve made a business out of other peoples content largely without consent. Respect to Johansonn for making this known publicly though. But even weirder that they then took it down when they saw the reaction. Highlighting themselves as Sociopaths. Plenty of those around, but with this much power and access to data? Creepy.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        6 months ago

        Yeah, it is kinda sketchy, though they might have backed down because they realized there was no winning this in the court of public opinion, regardless of whether they were trying to act in good faith prior to the controversy coming out.

        IMO Johansonn making it public was an obvious strategic move because it gave her a strong position because of how unpopular AI is these days. She might have otherwise just paid some lawyers a lot of money to accomplish nothing if it was legally fine and she was adamant about them not using a voice that sounded like hers (guessing the best she would have gotten without going public is them paying her some money to continue using that similar voice or maybe a bit more money to use her actual voice, either way they would have gotten what they wanted).

        • stellargmite@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          6 months ago

          Yeh she effectively chose an ethical position with no downside I can think of. Unless they made her sign an NDA / MOU which they clearly didn’t. Their sketchiness is enhanced if anything. Makes me wonder if they made some low level threat at that last minute approach. e.g we are using your voice anyway, now’s your chance to get onboard the gravy train or look bad. Just speculation of course. She wasnt aware apparently. Also the fact they want to mimic the “her” ai is just weird. They are worse than the cautionary fiction.

  • SeattleRain@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    22
    arrow-down
    14
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    I hate to defend Sam but Scarlet does not have a patent on a bubbly mid western accent.

    • zik@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      18
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      6 months ago

      He tweeted “Her”, which explicitly tells us it’s a deliberate imitation of Scarlett’s voice in that movie. And he tried to negotiate licencing her famous voice, which she rejected.

      So it’s more than just a coincidence, it’s deliberate bad faith behaviour. Legally you can’t misrepresent a product as being from a famous person when it wasn’t, and he very much did that. I guess he was hoping she’d give in and accept the licensing agreement post-facto. But instead it looks he’s in legal deep water now.

      • SeattleRain@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        8
        ·
        6 months ago

        That’s not proof of anything. It’s the most well known reference to a “AI Girlfriend” in popular culture that there currently is.

        This reminds me of when the Fine Brothers tried to trademark the word “react” or when Paris Hilton did the same thing for “That’s hot”.

        • zik@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          6 months ago

          Celebrities get wide latitude to protect themselves from imitators. Impressionists can do “satire” etc. but this isn’t that. It’s explicitly a reference to her voice in the movie, and as such she’s protected by law from them going around her and hiring someone else to imitate her.

          • SeattleRain@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            7
            arrow-down
            9
            ·
            6 months ago

            Well maybe Scarlet needs to start pay royalties to millions of Midwestern women. Because she didn’t come up with that way of talking on her own now did she?

            • aesthelete@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              12
              arrow-down
              5
              ·
              edit-2
              6 months ago

              This argument is so stupid it’s even remarkably stupider than the surrounding comments in a lemmy thread full of braindead bot humpers.

              Congrats! 🎈

        • Jarix@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          6 months ago

          Alternate theory, they heard what they came up with, tried to liscence the use of her voice to avoid a legal fight, hoped she might come around after the fact and now here we are.

          Seems possible anyway.

          Do we know Sam had any specific and previous interest in Scarlet?

  • JackbyDev@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    5 months ago

    Isn’t calling the voice “flirty” sexist? It didn’t seem flirty in any of the clips I heard of it.

    • toofpic@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      5 months ago

      This was my voice of choice because it sounded like a “person on the other side” is engaged. Like when you talk to a friend or teacher who’s interested in the topic.
      If somebody thinks it’s somehow related to sexuality, gender questions, etc, they have to check themselves.

  • Brownian Motion@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    I’ve listened to it, and it sounds nothing like Scarlett does. I had to find a movie with Scarlett in it to compare with, and I can honestly tell you ChatGPT sounds nothing like Natasha in Black Widow.

    (Joke aside, ChatGPT doesn’t sound like Scarlett at all).

    • EatATaco@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      6 months ago

      After the uproar, I was expecting it to be way closer…but not at all? Really?

      • Brownian Motion@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        6 months ago

        I probably should say “IMO”.

        They played it on a local radio station here yesterday, and even they were mocking it as “not close”.

        • EatATaco@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          6 months ago

          Didnt hear this radio interview, but the video they released sounded too close based on the fact that they asked for permission and she said no.

  • Cringe2793@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    arrow-down
    32
    ·
    6 months ago

    She has a very generic sounding American sultry woman voice, imo. Seems like a money grab to me. She’s not dumb, she sued Disney for some nonsense, and now she’s starting shit with the soon to be biggest company in the world.

    She’s just latching onto the fact that any time women complain about shit like this, and use words like sexism, gaslighting, misogyny, etc, it gets a lot of traction in the media.

    What a horrible woman.

      • Cringe2793@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        10
        ·
        6 months ago

        I did. And unlike you, I can draw my own conclusions, rather than let the media dictate them for me.

        Maybe try thinking a bit, before simping for these celebs. She’s just taking the opportunity to get some money, that’s all. She’s purposely throwing these words around because she knows you white knights will freak out about it and jump on her side. It’s scary how easy it is to manipulate you guys.

        Well, I’m not gonna waste my time explaining to you. It’s not my job, and I just don’t want to. If you wanna simp for her, go ahead.

        • jeffw@lemmy.worldOP
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          6 months ago

          Mhmm… that’s why OpenAI asked her for permission to use her voice a while back? That’s why Altman joked about the new voice sounding like hers?

      • Cringe2793@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        5 months ago

        Nope. She sued because she felt she was owed more money. Disney released the movie on their streaming service at the same time as it was released in cinema.

        There was no “breach of contract”, otherwise she would have won easily. Instead, she and Disney settled out of court. She was just being greedy. Disney probably didn’t want the bad publicity and paid her off.

      • Cringe2793@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        5 months ago

        Resorting to name calling I see 😂😂😂 that’s what happens when you know I’m right, but refuse to change your wrong views.

        • VerticaGG@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          edit-2
          5 months ago

          Oh honey. Oh no that wasnt an insult. Id be more creative! I was stating a fact. Your posting history shows us that the Phantasm of scapegoat is allowing you to stand on both sides of the contradiction, simultaneously.

          So, you can keep going down this path youre on. We both know where it leads though. Loneliness, and nothing good.

          OR: Watch this Kratos lookin guy break down what’s been going on in this area of thought for over a decade, and begin to heal, and then maybe you’ll be able to make friends with people without expecting anything in return.

          You deserve that. You deserve to be on both sides of that, and not the phantasm.

          • Cringe2793@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            5 months ago

            That’s a lot of assumptions you’re making about me. I mean, if you can’t believe that scarjo is doing this for the money, then so be it.

            Far be it from me to try to tell you how to think. Believe what you want. I really can’t be bothered to correct you. And yes, what you’re doing is name calling, just because I believe a different thing from you. I shall not be replying to you any more, since you have no basic respect. Cheers!