A Man With ALS Can Speak and Sing Again Thanks to a Brain Implant and AI-Synthesized Voice
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Summary
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, have developed an AI-guided brain implant that allows a man with ALS to communicate using a computer-generated voice that mimics his natural intonation.
The man, Casey Harrell, had electrode arrays implanted in his brain five years ago, and after two days of training was able to communicate using a voice synthesiser that imitated his voice.
However, the synthesised voice lacked the natural inflections of speech, such as indicating question intonation or adding stresses to words.
The new system adds an AI element that instantly analyses the brain signals and replicates natural speech patterns in near real-time.
Creator of the system, Professor Sergey Stavisky, said it marks “the holy grail in speech BCIs”.
