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Lawmaker Jennifer Wexton - diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, which makes it difficult for her to speak - uses AI voice clone to address Congress (www.bbc.com)

submitted 1 month ago by tardigrada@beehaw.org to c/usnews@beehaw.org

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Virginia Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton used a artificial intelligence (AI) programme to address the House on Thursday. A year ago, the lawmaker was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, which makes it difficult for her to speak.

The AI programme allowed Wexton to make a clone of her speaking voice using old recordings of appearances and speeches she made in Congress. Wexton appears to be the first person to speak on the House floor with a voice recreated by AI.

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[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Is it following her real voice in real time, or is the script preprepared?

[–] tardigrada@beehaw.org 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

That's a good question non of the articles I found on the web is answering. But Ms. Wexton spoke to the Time magazine also using the device, and the magazine says:

During the interview at her dining room table in Leesburg, Virginia, the congresswoman typed out her thoughts, used a stylus to move the text around, hit play and then the AI program put that text into Wexton’s voice. It's a lengthy process, so the AP provided Wexton with a few questions ahead of the interview to give the congresswoman time to type her answers.

Source: A Neurological Disorder Stole Her Voice. Jennifer Wexton Took It Back With AI on the House Floor

[Edit typo.]