Jeff Burgar
We were quite confident actress Scarlett Johansson, from movies such as Her, Lucy and Avengers flicks, will now talk personally to us.
Well, not quite! It seems the Artificial Intelligence software, ChatGPT, will actually come to you over your phone or computer speakers in several different made-up voices. Scarlett is one of several. OpenAI is accused of creating something that sounds too much like the real Scarlett. She is upset.
Ourselves? This is cool. Scarlett? Marilyn? Sigourney? C3P0? Taylor? How about Clint? Or Jason? Arnold or Sylvester? Don Cherry or Danny Devito! Or the other Don, the orange fellow? In the dawning of an age where video, faces and voices can be made to mimic almost anything, it is not surprising some people will complain.
OpenAI defends themself by saying it is actually a ‘voice actor’ who just happens to sound ‘sort of like’ Scarlett. They go on to say the voice is not an imitation of Scarlett, “but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice.” Fair enough. Then adds they could not share the name because of privacy concerns. Not “won’t share.” It’s “could not share.”
What? Actually, this whole “privacy” thing is part of a growing habit from media, lawyers, professional organizations and so much more of people hiding behind excuses.
Media can’t report on a 16-year-old who stabbed 10 people in a mall because – you know – she is underage and needs her privacy protected. A school board in a big city won’t talk about their new unisex bathrooms because of “privacy rights.” You mean somebody is in the potty right now needing protection?
Then there are payoffs being routinely handed out to fired staff and managers everywhere by politicians big and small. How big was that severance package you gave your dismissed manager? “Can’t say. Privacy you know.”
Huh? Personally, we don’t care if this is a ‘private’ deal. But when you are dealing with public taxpayer money, everybody involved should understand some things simply come with the territory.
Then there are Non Disclosure Agreements, or NDAs. These days, business and governments routinely whip out a NDA contract. “Here! Sign this! Even if we actually did foul up. We don’t want you yapping.”
One fellow in Ontario fought back. He was surprised to find a $1.50 fee charged to his TD bank account for sending an e-transfer. Three years earlier, he was told when he opened the account he would get five free transactions a month. TD finally agreed to compensate him, but then he was told he had to “sign this and keep it confidential.” If not, he would not be paid. Can you imagine if this was $1 million?
In the case of government fired employees, why would they agree to keep it a secret? Because they are embarrassed they hired the person in the first place? Because the staffer is threatening to sue?
Well, if they have a good reason, speak up! If not, why firing in the first place? Ethics and fairness still exist don’t they? Privacy does have a place, but this whole mess of secrets is out of hand.