‘Artificial intelligence gave me my voice back’
‘Artificial intelligence gave me my voice back’
https://www.aol.com/articles/artificial-intelligence-gave-voice-back-165139312.html
Publish Date: 2026-02-11 12:42:00
Source Domain: www.aol.com
- Patrick Darling, a 32-year-old musician from Bristol, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) at age 29, which left him unable to sing and play instruments.
- Darling, who had been performing with the Irish folk group The Ceili House Band, found it “deeply profound and devastating” to lose his musical abilities.
- After his diagnosis, he used AI technology from ElevenLabs to recreate a digital replica of his singing voice based on recordings from his past performances.
- The AI technology enabled the generation of accurate digital replicas from previous recordings of natural speech or sound.
- At a recent event, Darling performed the song “Ghost Of A Man I Never Met,” composed with the AI-generated voice and original lyrics, alongside his former guitarist Nick Cocking and violinist Hari Ma.
- Darling’s family, who hadn’t heard him sing in person since his MND diagnosis, were present at the event to witness his triumphant return to the stage.
- The collaboration between Darling and speech therapist Richard Cave to develop the AI-generated voice has provided hope and meaning to those dealing with similar conditions.
- The success of this collaboration highlights the potential of AI technology in providing support to individuals affected by degenerative diseases.