Why should Scarlett Johansson (or any other woman) fight to own her own voice and image?

How many times in a week do you see the face of Scarlett Johansson? It happens to me at least once a day, whether it's posted on the side of a bus to promote her latest film, or on Instagram next to products from her new skincare line.

And what about his way of speaking? Think about it, I bet you can imagine the exact tone of his voice right now, especially if you've seen the movie Herin which the actress voices an AI chatbot.

For actors of Scarlett's class, this exposure is an essential (if sometimes baffling) aspect of her celebrity: It's how she makes money. Unfortunately, it seems, that's how everyone else makes money too.

Technology company OpenAI has removed the new female voice from its AI chatbot after the star of Lost in Translation she said she was “shocked, angry and in disbelief” at the voice, which sounded “frighteningly similar” to hers.

In a statement, Scarlett said she turned down an offer from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to lend her voice to the new ChatGPT 4.0 system. An anonymous actress was therefore paid to create the voice of «Sky».

Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow.

Disney

“My friends, my family and the general public,” Scarlett continued, «they noticed how much the voice of the new system called “Sky” resembled mine».

“When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angry and in disbelief that Mr. Altman had chosen a voice so similar to mine, that my closest friends and media outlets were unable to distinguish it.”

On the day the new rumor was released, Altman posted on X “her,” which many users interpreted as a reference to the aforementioned film Herabout a man who falls in love with an AI system, voiced by Scarlett.

An X user wrote: «Her (2012) was intended as a dark dystopia, a tale that warned of the risks of alienation linked to the use of AI. Certainly not as a commercial strategy for @OpenAI to impose on humanity.”

Scarlett concluded her statement by saying: “At a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our appearance, our work, our identities, I believe these are issues that need to be addressed with absolute clarity.”

OpenAI confirmed it had paused the new entry “out of respect” while it addressed the questions posed by Scarlett. In a post on celebrity: Sky's voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson, but belongs to another professional actress who uses her natural voice”, we read. “To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice actors.”

“We spoke with each actor about the issues raised by human-AI voice interactions and OpenAI, and discussed the capabilities, limitations and risks of this technology, as well as the safeguards we have implemented.”

In a statement released to VarietyAltman said: “Sky's voice is not Scarlett Johansson's and was never intended to sound like hers” and said he was “sorry” that the company “did not communicate better” with the actress.

This is certainly not the first time Scarlett's likeness has been used without her consent.

In November 2023, the actress took legal action against an artificial intelligence application that appeared to use her name and likeness in an advertisement, without her consent. Second Variety Scarlett appeared in a short video posted to X by an artificial intelligence application called Lisa AI: 90s Yearbook & Avatar.

Variety reported that the ad, which has since been removed, included a disclaimer under Scarlett's image, which read: “Images produced by Lisa AI. You have nothing to do with this person.”

Scarlett Johansson also spoke di like deepfake pornography – in which real images of her are edited to appear sexually explicit – has had an impact on her over the years.

In 2019 it was revealed that a fake video of the actress, described as 'leaked' footage, had had over 1.5 million views on a major porn site. This came after private images of her were stolen and circulated in 2011. The hacker found responsible was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His consent – ​​that is, the right to dispose of his own body – was repeatedly violated.

The woman told the Washington Post: «Nothing can stop someone from cutting and pasting my or anyone else's image onto another body and making it look as disturbingly realistic as desired. There are essentially no rules on the Internet because it is an abyss that remains virtually lawless, other than the policies in force in the United States which, again, only apply here.”

Although the legal regulations on image misuse have changed since 2019 – especially in the UK, where the creation of deepfakes is set to be considered a full-fledged crime after the campaign promoted by Glamour – it is clear that women, whether famous or not, are still vulnerable when it comes to having their image used without their consent.

No one, including Scarlett Johansson, should be forced to fight to maintain control over the use of their image and voice.

Source: Vanity Fair

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