OpenAI puts flirty ChatGPT voice that sounds like ScarJo in ‘Her’ on hold

OpenAI says it’s hitting the pause button on a synthetic voice released with an update to ChatGPT that prompted comparisons with a fictional voice assistant portrayed in the quasi-dystopian film “Her” by actor Scarlett Johansson.

OpenAI says it’s hitting the pause button on a synthetic voice released with an update to ChatGPT that prompted comparisons with a fictional voice assistant portrayed in the quasi-dystopian film “Her” by actor Scarlett Johansson. The retreat by OpenAI follows a backlash to the artificial voice, known as Sky, which critics described as being overly familiar with users and sounded as if it had emerged from a male developer’s fantasy. It was widely mocked for its flirtatious tone. “We’ve heard questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT, especially Sky,” OpenAI said in a post on X Monday. “We are working to pause the use of Sky while we address them.” The voice in question is not derived from Johansson’s, the company said in a blog post Sunday, but instead “belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice.” OpenAI said that with each of its AI voices, it tried to create “an approachable voice that inspires trust,” one that contains a “rich tone” and is “natural and easy to listen to.” The ChatGPT voice mode that used the Sky voice had not yet been widely released, but videos from the product announcement and teasers of OpenAI employees speaking with it went viral online last week. Some who heard Sky derided it as perhaps too easy to listen to. Last week, the controversy inspired a segment on The Daily Show in which senior correspondent Desi Lydic described Sky as a “horny robot baby voice.”