Woman with motor neuron disease finds ‘voice’ thanks to AI

By Tom Bevan

An MND sufferer who spoke like a "robot" for years can now use her own voice - thanks to an old VHS clip of her changing her baby's diaper.

Sarah Ezekiel was left without a voice or use of her hands aged just 34 due to the onset of motor neuron disease in 2000.

Her two children Aviva, 28, and Eric, 25, grew up only ever able to speak to her through a machine - in a generic and robotic tone.

But 25 years later, after finding an eight-second scratchy VHS clip of her speaking while changing Aviva's nappy in the 1990s, AI technology has been able to give Sarah back her original voice.

And her children say they now feel truly connected to her after hearing her true 'cockney accent' for the first time.

Sarah, 59, of Hendon, London, said: "I love having my voice back. I almost cried when I first heard it. It was a very emotional experience.

"I lived in an offline wilderness. The hardest part with living with MND has been losing my speech. I felt like I had lost my identity.

"When I was asked if I had any recordings of my voice before MND, I sent a video where I say one line with people talking in the background. I wasn't hopeful at all."

The video clip, which was of very poor quality, was sent to Smartbox, a Bristol-based technology company, who began working on trying to create something that could replicate Sarah's original voice.

Through the use of AI technology, they were eventually able to isolate the voice and to clone it.

As a result, Sarah is now able to say whatever she wants through her device using her own voice.

She added: "I am so happy to have my identity back thanks to Smartbox and AI.
 
"I think it is great to have a voice that sounds like me and not a robot. My kids couldn't remember my voice at all as they were so young.

"It is wonderful for them to hear the real me."

Sarah was diagnosed with MND in April 2000 just months before her second child Eric was born.

She added: "After Eric was born my symptoms progressed rapidly and soon I was unable to use my hands, my marriage collapsed and I needed care for myself and children.

"I lived in an offline wilderness until I got my first assisted technology and that is when my life started again."

Sarah said she started to truly reconnect with the world again when using eye-gaze technology in 2010 and she rediscovered her passion for art through it two years later.

She added: "I always tell people with good technology and support anything and everything is possible. I am excited about the future and what lies ahead."

Sarah's daughter Aviva said hearing her mother's true voice had made her feel a lot more connected to her.

She said: "It has been amazing, really special and emotional and a lot to process.

"A voice is such a personal part of someone you take for granted. It is amazing to be able to hear her as herself - and not as a robot.

"Her personality and roots are tied up in her accent and it's definitely helped me feel more connected to her - to be able to hear herself in her own voice.

"I realize I want to listen to her more when it is in human voice. 

"This video clip had been hidden away. I'd not seen it before.

"The first time I heard it was when she said this is what they are going to use.

"It is just a video of her changing my nappy. We've since found more videos which is great. You can hear her cockney accent coming through - I'd never put two and two together like that. It is just fantastic."

Her son Eric added: "It really does sound like her and that has been so exciting for mum and myself. It has just changed the way she communicates.

"It is a lot more expressive, a lot clearer about how she is feeling. Whether she is annoyed, excited or telling me to do things, it just comes across more how she is feeling."

Simon Poole from Smartbox says he had asked for an hour's worth of audio and recalls how his heart initially sank when he received only eight seconds from a VHS tape.

He added: "I thought there's no way we're going to be able to create a voice using audio that bad."

He started the process by looping it through the latest technology from international AI-voice company called ElevenLabs.

Eventually, Simon said he managed to set Sarah's voice apart from the television.

He then used another app where AI had been trained to fill in gaps left by the isolator and to predict where a voice, like Sarah's, might go with its intonation.

Eventually, Simon ended up with several audio phrases he was happy with - and sent them to Sarah who 'couldn't believe' how realistic it sounded.

Smartbox was formed in Bristol with the aim of building a world where "no one is left without a voice."

On its website it states: "Our technology exists to give people a voice and independence, so they can build meaningful connections and can achieve their ambitions."