AI can give you your voice back.
A Science News podcast episode reports on how AI voice clones, made through ElevenLabs, are helping people with ALS speak in voices that sound like their own, including comedian Jules Rodriguez.
Jules Rodriguez has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and his natural voice faded as the disease progressed. He banked his voice soon after his diagnosis, the traditional way, but disliked the result. He compared it in a stand-up routine to Daft Punk played at quarter speed. Science News reporter Laura Sanders followed his story in episode three of its podcast The Deep End.
The newer approach relies on AI. Sanders cloned her own voice with ElevenLabs, using the company's professional option, which required 30 minutes of recorded audio. According to her, the software extracts features such as pitch, tone, prosody and breathing patterns, then builds a model that can say anything typed into it. Speech pathologist Kate Nilson said old recordings such as voicemails, speeches or podcasts can be used, which matters when a person's speech has already changed.
Rodriguez made his clone in June 2024 with help from the nonprofit Bridging Voice. His wife, identified as MA, said she cried when she first heard it. He used the voice to write jokes and returned to the stand-up comedy he had once given up on. In mid-November he performed at a local comedy club.
The clone also played a part in a major medical choice. Rodriguez had decided against a tracheostomy, which would permanently end his ability to speak. After a hospital crisis in September, he changed his mind. MA said she believes the clone was a major factor and that he likely would not have chosen the procedure without it. The episode notes that such a decision depends on many things. He had the surgery on October 1.
Karina Nagin, who directs Bridging Voice, said some recipients changed their health directives after getting a clone. She said her team first saw a natural-sounding voice as an add-on, but later concluded that "that is the core of it, your identity and feeling like yourself." Peggy Merrill, who lost her voice to ALS, wrote to Sanders: "It renews my sense of self to use and hear my own voice."
The technology has limits. Rodriguez still types with eye-tracking equipment, and the episode says this takes a lot of time and focus. Scientists are working on ways to produce words faster by using signals earlier in the speech process.
Note: The headline suggests a restored voice. The page describes an AI-generated clone that sounds like the person's earlier voice, and users still type their words with eye-tracking technology.
At a Glance
- Jules Rodriguez created his AI voice clone in June 2024 using recordings of his own voice and ElevenLabs.
- Sanders's professional-option voice clone required 30 minutes of recorded audio.
- Rodriguez had a tracheostomy on October 1 and performed at a local comedy club in mid-November.
- Bridging Voice, a nonprofit led by Karina Nagin, helps people with ALS find and use communication technology, including ElevenLabs clones.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.