2024 in review: When Scarlett Johansson became a 'real-life chatbot'

In terms of technology, 2024 was marked by the growth and investment in artificial intelligence. But that story took a strange turn when one chatbot sounded a lot like Scarlett Johansson, who once voiced a super-powerful and extremely charming AI chatbot in the sci-fi classic 'Her.'

Scarlett Johansson: her best movie roles

The actress even said in a statement in May that she was "shocked, angered and in disbelief" to hear what the speaking version of real-life AI platform ChatGPT sounded like.

In the statement, shared with media outlets like CNN, Johansson said the voice Sky, which was released with an update to ChatGPT, sounded "eerily similar" to hers.

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Johansson said she even turned down OpenAI's offer to lend her voice to the popular artificial intelligence technology. "Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, [Open AI's CEO Sam] Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. Before we could connect, the system was out there," the actress said in her statement.

Despite the star's concerns over copying her voice, the fact that Johansson, in particular, was asked to voice the chatbot raises some serious concerns about the goals of this AI product.

In the 2013 sci-fi film directed by Spike Jonze, a lonely man named Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix, develops a relationship with an AI virtual assistant, voiced by Johansson. The movie won Best Picture at the Academy Awards and is considered one of the best movies of the century.

While Theodore’s relationship with his chatbot exists in a grey area between utopia and dystopia, a part of the film is notably disturbing.

Spoiler alert:

Near the end, it shows more and more people are following in Theodore’s footsteps and falling in love with their AI assistant.

Image: Rotten Tomatoes Trailers / Youtube

In 2023, when the OpenAI CEO was asked about his favorite sci-fi movie, he said 'Her,' according to the San Francisco Standard. More recently, after releasing the new version of ChatGPT that speaks (some say, like Johannson), he simply posted on X: 'her.'

Image: same / X

Around the time that Johansson released her statement, OpenAI said it would disable the voice. But the company also emphasized in a blog post: "We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity's distinctive voice - Sky's voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice."

Although the voice was only out for a few days, some smitten users were already saddened by the decision to take it down. According to CBS, some said it was the "best" or their "favorite" voice.

Maybe these users were already starting to fall in love - just like Joaquin Phoenix in the movie 'Her'? To be clear, there were other voices available.

Image: Rotten Tomatoes Trailers / Youtube

Ignoring what the voice sounds like, the New York Times describes the chatbot as "a lightly flirtatious, wholly attentive woman who's ready to serve the user's every whim, at least within the limits of her programming… She wants you to feel good. …She’s a dream girl." With that, the article says it makes good business sense.

As a final fun fact, the whole movie was first made using the voice of British actress Samantha Morton, but Jonze told Vulutre in 2013 that he changed the voice to make it sound younger, "more impassioned" and "more yearning."

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