Written for the leaders, owners and professionals of the 11 million businesses with between $50,000 and $50 million in revenue.

OpenAI might have to wear the “Scarlett” letter in court.

Actress Scarlett Johansson has hired legal counsel, claiming that ChatGPT’s parent company repeatedly asked her to voice its AI assistant — recalling her role as Sky from the 2013 film Her — and then hired a soundalike when she declined. OpenAI denies they meant to replicate Johansson’s voice, even though CEO Sam Altman tweeted a solitary “her” after a live demo. (We imagine this gave OpenAI’s lawyers a migrAIne.)

This isn’t the first controversy over celebrity likeness in our new generative era. Read ahead for our guide on the topic, which you can imagine hearing in any voice you’d like.

The “AI” list: So you want to use an AI celebrity mascot?

Upskilling: What got you “here” might not get you “there”

OfferUp: How app took on Craigslist and disrupted the disrupter

(Source: Dove Chocolate)

It was the “creepiest TV commercial ever made,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Actress Audrey Hepburn had risen from the dead — thanks to a 3D CGI model that used her entire filmography — to sell Dove Chocolate.

That was 10 years ago, and things have only gotten weirder since then. Would you prefer Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, or Kendall Jenner as the voice of your Meta chatbot? How about Shaq, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Cookie Monster to narrate your Waze driving directions?

As replicating celebrities’ voices and likenesses with generative AI has grown easier, marketing executives and online creators are eager to deploy the technology’s immense potential. Studies show that pairing a product or brand with a famous personality can enhance audience trust and commitment, so monetizing a dearly departed icon’s likeness might seem like a slam dunk.

But there are more obstacles to consider than you might think.

In January, comedian George Carlin’s estate sued a podcast company that had released a one-hour special — written and performed by AI — titled George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead. The producers might’ve thought they were being clever, but they created the digital facsimile without legal permission. All of its words, not just seven, may have been considered “dirty.”

The right of publicity protects celebrities who are still with us and the heirs of those who are not. According to the American Bar Association, this right can extend from 10 years to 100 years after death, depending on the U.S. state — and even depending on “commercial value at death.”

In California, where the right of publicity extends back the furthest, it still only applies to people born after 1914. So George Carlin might be off-limits, but Dodge and GEICO spokesperson George Washington isn’t.

Using images of long-gone celebrities for marketing purposes is nothing new: Apple featured Albert Einstein, John Lennon, Amelia Earhart, Jim Henson, and many others in its 1990s “Think Different” campaign. Even Max Factor named Marilyn Monroe, a longtime client of the luxury brand, as an ambassador to celebrate its 80th anniversary.

But now, dead celebs’ faces aren’t just appearing in advertisements; they’re appearing to create new art. Andy Warhol, who died in 1987, narrated a 2022 Netflix docuseries about himself. And Calm partnered with voice-cloning startup Respeecher in 2023 for “It’s a Wonderful Sleep Story,” which recreated Jimmy Stewart’s soothing voice.

And yet, the U.S. Copyright Office and a federal judge have ruled that AI-generated art isn’t eligible for copyright. Even if you have the digital rights to recreate a celebrity’s likeness with AI, do you have the rights to their creations?

Before resurrecting the digital spirits of bygone celebrities, it’s crucial to consult with a legal expert to avoid a lawsuit … and perhaps consult with a psychic medium to avoid a haunting.

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(Source: Shutterstock)

Dr. Ben Baran is an associate professor at Cleveland State University and co-founder of Elevating What Works.

Success can reinforce habits and behaviors, and that’s great as long as the situation remains the same. But when the situation changes — for example, when you take on a new role or are promoted — you need to think carefully about what new behaviors you might need.

Imagine a top-performing sales representative. They likely spend a great deal of time building relationships with prospects and customers, learning about their needs, and suggesting solutions for their problems.

Now imagine a top sales representative who gets promoted to sales manager. Success as a sales manager is a bit less about customer relationships and much more about leading and managing a team within an organization. Those different skills and behaviors will determine the new sales manager’s success. If he or she continues to act like a top sales representative, the team will suffer.

This is all part of an area of research called “managerial derailment,” which looks at how and why people fail as managers. It has big implications for how you approach new roles, both for yourself and for people in your company. The key is to remember to analyze the situation first and use that to figure out the behaviors and skills needed to succeed.

If you get promoted, take time to learn what the new role really involves. Set aside your prior notions of what you need to do to be successful until you have a good understanding of what your new priorities need to be and how you will best tackle them. If you find yourself going back to old tasks that you found easy or enjoyable in your prior role, be careful — you might be subconsciously avoiding what really needs to be done.

The same goes for other people. Supporting people during these transitions through mentoring and skill-building can help minimize the risk of them derailing in their new roles.

(Source: OfferUp)

OfferUp is like the Inception of used goods’ marketplace disruption. It was designed to rattle the original disrupter: Craigslist. 

Launched in 1995 (and famously still looking like it), Craigslist shook printed newspaper classifieds so hard, it pretty much nuked them out of existence. By the 2010s, however, Craigslist felt stagnant, scammy, and — crucially — browser-only instead of smartphone-friendly.

The site wasn’t cutting it for two young fathers and entrepreneurs, Nick Huzar and Arean van Veelen, whose rapidly growing babies left them with garages full of used junk to sell. So, the pair asked themselves what they’d want in an online marketplace. The answers:

• A sense of community
• Messaging and paying for items within the platform, with zero transaction fees
• A verified ID system, user profiles, and seller ratings
• Finally, they’d want that all in an app

They launched their own app, OfferUp. Today, it’s the largest mobile marketplace in the U.S. and pulls down $90 million in annual revenue, all because a couple of dads got frustrated at a website from the ‘90s.

Written by Marty Beckerman, Antonio Ferme, and Dan Ketchum. Comic by John McNamee.