OpenAI delays launch of ChatGPT voice assistants and ‘sensory’ personalities – Firstpost

OpenAI has announced that it will delay the launch of its new speech and emotion reading features for the ChatGPT chatbot, citing the need for additional security testing.

The release was originally scheduled to be available to some paying subscribers in late June, but has now been delayed by a month and is expected to roll out to all paying users sometime in the fall. The company stressed that the exact timing depends on whether the “high standards of security and reliability” are met.

The announcement followed a demonstration last month that caused a great deal of excitement among ChatGPT users, but it also sparked controversy, including a potential lawsuit from actress Scarlett Johansson. Johansson claimed OpenAI used her voice for one of its AI personas without permission.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has denied these claims, saying the company did not train the bot on Johansson’s voice. A Washington Post report said the company hired another actor for the training audio, based on internal recordings and interviews with casting directors and the actor’s agent.

Delayed features include ChatGPT’s ability to speak using different synthetic voices, or “personas.” These features were first introduced late last year, with a more advanced AI system called GPT-4o being introduced in a demo in May. That demo showed the chatbot’s ability to speak using expressive tones, respond to a person’s tone of voice and facial expressions, and have more complex conversations.

One of the personalities, named Sky, bears similarities to the voice of an AI bot played by Johansson in the 2013 film “Her.” The film tells the story of a man who is somewhat of a loner and falls in love with an AI assistant.

The delay underscores the challenges tech companies face in developing and deploying advanced AI technologies. For example, Google recently reduced the frequency of AI-generated answers at the top of search results due to errors such as bizarre recommendations like putting glue on pizza.

Additionally, in February, Google pulled an AI image generator that was criticized for creating controversial images. Likewise, Microsoft made changes to its own AI chatbot last year after it sometimes gave strange and aggressive responses.

OpenAI says additional time is needed to improve the new voice features and ensure they can effectively detect and block inappropriate content. This is crucial as many AI tools have been criticized for generating false information and displaying racist, sexist or biased content. The complexity of developing a chatbot that can interpret and mimic emotions adds another layer of difficulty and increases the potential for error.

“Our mission is to bring these new experiences to you in a thoughtful manner,” OpenAI said in a statement.

As competition in the generative AI space intensifies, companies like OpenAI must overcome both technical and ethical challenges to ensure their products are both innovative and safe for users.

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