Scarlett Johansson Takes Legal Action Against AI App For Using Her Name, Voice In Ad

Scarlett Johansson has taken legal action against an artificial intelligence (AI) app that used her face and voice in an advertisement without her permission. According to The Guardian, the 22-second advertisement posted on X (formerly Twitter) by an image-generating app called 'Lisa AI:90's Yearbook & Avatar', used real video of the 'Black Widow' star to generate a fake image and dialogue for her. "What's up, guys? It's Scarlett and I want you to come with me," Ms Johansson says before the clip transitions to a group of AI-generated pictures that resemble her.  

"It's not limited to avatars only," a voiceover continues, sounding very similar to the actor. "You can also create images with texts and even your AI videos. I think you shouldn't miss it," the fake narration adds, as per the outlet. 

The clip was spotted by Ms Johansson's team last week and since then it has been deleted from the internet. According to the outlet, the video also featured a disclaimer that stated that the advertisement features "images produced by Lisa AI. It has nothing to do with this person". 

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Representatives for the 38-year-old Hollywood star confirmed to Variety that she is not a spokesperson for the company and that appropriate legal actions were taken since the ad was spotted on the internet. "We do not take these things lightly. Per our usual course of action in these circumstances, we will deal with it with all legal remedies that we will have," her lawyer told the outlet.

Meanwhile, Ms Johansson is not the only celebrity to have fallen victim to AI. Last month, Tom Hanks warned his followers on Instagram about a promotional video for a dental plan that featured his likeness. "Beware!!" the 67-year-old wrote beneath a photo of his lookalike. "There's a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it," he added. 

Moreover, according to The Guardian, comedian Sarah Silverman also sued OpenAI and Meta for copyright infringement over claims that their AI models were trained on their work without their consent.