Sarah Ezekiel lost her voice to Motor Neurone Disease (MND) at the age of 34, within months of her becoming a mother for the second time. The degenerative condition causes muscles to weaken, and of the 5,000 Americans who are diagnosed each year, most will lose the ability to speak. Within months, Sarah lost the use of her hands, followed by her ability to speak. Her marriage ended soon after. With two small children to care for, Sarah had to rely on 24-hour care. As they were growing up, Aviva and Eric only heard their mother speak through a machine with an emotionless robotic voice. Now, 25 years on, artificial intelligence has recreated their mother’s real voice from just eight seconds of audio on a scratchy VHS tape. The “miracle,” as Sarah describes it, is called a Smartbox, which uses a camera to track Sarah’s eyes as she looks at letters on a screen in front of her. Previously, her speech was provided by a synthetic voice, but now the sound of her younger voice rings out. Those eight seconds of Sarah's voice was all that was needed for a company called ElevenLabs. The company provides free voice-cloning to people who have lost their ability to speak. When Sarah first heard her old voice, she cried. One of her friends was also impressed by how realistic it was. As for Aviva and Eric, they say their mother’s new (old) voice has changed everything. Now her emotions come through her voice and she can express when she’s happy, sad or angry. Sarah couldn’t be happier and is extremely grateful for all the people who have helped her regain some of the old Sarah. "I'm glad to be back. It's better than being a robot.”
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| Sarah with Aviva and Eric |
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| Aviva and Eric today |
