Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson has launched legal action against an AI app that used her name and an AI likeness in an online advert, needless to say without permission. This is particularly ironic given that one of Johansson's most memorable roles was in the excellent 2013 film Her, where she voices an AI virtual assistant called Samantha that protagonist Theodore falls in love with.
First reported by Variety, the 22-second ad has now unsurprisingly disappeared. It was for an image-generating app called Lisa AI: 90s Yearbook & Avatar, and per Variety began with a (genuine) clip of Johansson behind-the-scenes while playing Black Widow. "What’s up guys," says Johansson, "It’s Scarlett and I want you to come with me…" before the ad transitions into AI-generated photos closely resembling the actor and an AI Johansson voice starts promoting the app, ending with the line "I think you shouldn’t miss it".
