Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for the American Museum of Natural History
Actor Scarlett Johansson has called for the U.S. government to regulate artificial intelligence after a fake video appearing to show her and other Jewish celebrities denouncing Kanye West’s racism went viral. In the AI-generated video, Johansson and other A-listers are wearing a white T-shirt with a hand giving the middle finger. There’s a Star of David on the hand and the word “KANYE” written underneath, in reference to West ranting against Jews on social media last week and calling himself a Nazi. He also tried to sell swastika T-shirts on his Yeezy website, leading his talent agency to drop him and Shopify to delete his Yeezy store. In a statement to the New York Post, Johansson said she is a Jewish woman “who has no tolerance for antisemitism or hate speech of any kind. But I also firmly believe that the potential for hate speech multiplied by A.I. is a far greater threat than any one person who takes accountability for it.” She called it “terrifying” that the U.S. government is “paralyzed” when it comes to passing AI legislation and urged the government to make AI regulation a top priority. Johansson had previously called out a ChatGPT voice created by OpenAI that sounded “eerily similar” to hers, after she had declined to let the company use her real voice. The generated voice was ultimately pulled. Johansson told the Post that while she had been a “very public victim of AI,” the technology’s threat extends to everyone. “It is a bipartisan issue that enormously affects the immediate future of humanity at large,” her statement said.
