Actor Scarlett Johansson has raised her concerns about OpenAI and deepfake technology, calling it “so disturbing” and expressing frustration after the company allegedly mimicked her voice for its ChatGPT system – Sky. She also took a jibe at OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, suggesting he would make a good “Marvel villain”.
The actor made headlines earlier this year when she issued a public statement revealing that Altman had approached her in September 2023 to lend her voice for Sky, a nod to her role in Spike Jonze’s film ‘Her’. Johansson declined the offer for “personal reasons”. In May, when the company launched Sky, Altman tweeted a cryptic ‘Her’.
Following Johansson’s statement and her lawyers’ intervention, OpenAI pulled the voice but insisted that Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her natural speaking voice.
Altman later clarified that the actor voicing Sky had been hired before he contacted Johansson as an additional, sixth voice. He apologised to Johansson and announced that they had paused Sky “out of respect for” her.
In an interview with The New York Times, Johansson shared her bewilderment and anger over the situation. “I had actively avoided being part of the [AI] conversation, which made it so disturbing. I was like, ‘How did I get wrapped up in this?’ It was crazy. I was so angry.”
“I felt I did not want to be at the forefront of that,” she added. “It just felt like it went against my core values. I don’t like to kiss and tell. He came to me with this and I didn’t tell anybody except my husband … I also felt that for my children it would be strange. I try to be mindful of them,” she said.
Johansson described deepfake technology as a “dark wormhole you can never climb your way out of”.
“Once you try to take something down in one area, it pops up somewhere else. There are other countries with different legislation and rules. If your ex-partner is putting out revenge, deep fake porn, your whole life can be completely ruined,” she said.
“I think technologies move faster than our fragile human egos can process it, and you see the effects all over, especially with young people. This technology is coming like a thousand-foot wave,” she added.
When asked if Altman could make for a good Marvel villain, she quipped, “I guess he would – maybe with a robotic arm.”
Johansson’s public clash with OpenAI comes three years after her legal battle with Disney over the release of her Marvel movie Black Widow. The movie was released in theatres and on Disney+ during the Covid-19 pandemic, and Johansson argued that her contract stipulated an exclusive theatrical release, with her compensation tied to box office performance.
Disney’s initial response was surprisingly combative, even disclosing Johansson’s upfront fee of $20 million. Johansson fired back, calling the studio’s response ‘misogynistic’.
The two parties eventually settled for an undisclosed amount, though Deadline reported Disney would pay Johansson over $40 million.
Reflecting on the Disney dispute, Johansson told The New York Times, “I don’t hold a grudge [against Disney]. I think it was just poor judgment and poor leadership at that time. It just felt very unprofessional to me, the entire ordeal. And honestly, I was incredibly disappointed, especially because I was holding out hope until, finally, my team was like, ‘You have to act’.”
