AI Researchers Analyze Similarities of Scarlett Johanssson's Voice to OpenAI's 'Sky'

AI models can evaluate how similar voices are to each other. So NPR asked forensic voice experts at Arizona State University to compare the voice and speech patterns of OpenAI's "Sky" to Scarlett Johansson's...The researchers measured Sky, based on audio from demos OpenAI delivered last week, against the voices of around 600 professional actresses. They found that Johansson's voice is more similar to Sky than 98% of the other actresses. Yet she wasn't always the top hit in the multiple AI models that scanned the Sky voice. The researchers found that Sky was also reminiscent of other Hollywood stars, including Anne Hathaway and Keri Russell. The analysis of Sky often rated Hathaway and Russell as being even more similar to the AI than Johansson. The lab study shows that the voices of Sky and Johansson have undeniable commonalities - something many listeners believed, and that now can be supported by statistical evidence, according to Arizona State University computer scientist Visar Berisha, who led the voice analysis in the school's College of Health Solutions and the College of Engineering. "Our analysis shows that the two voices are similar but likely not identical," Berisha said... OpenAI maintains that Sky was not created with Johansson in mind, saying it was never meant to mimic the famous actress. "It's not her voice. It's not supposed to be. I'm sorry for the confusion. Clearly you think it is," Altman said at a conference this week. He said whether one voice is really similar to another will always be the subject of debate.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.