Emerging generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are already being adopted across the healthcare industry to improve areas such as early detection and workflow efficiency. The public is taking increasing notice of how people are using these tools to help recreate a voice they once thought lost forever. A recent NPR article, for example, details the inspiring story of how one woman employed AI tools to retain her quality of life.
When Sonya Sotinsky was diagnosed with Stage 4 oral cancer, she used the limited time she had to record her voice before doctors were scheduled to remove her tongue and voice box. Using generative AI, she was able to take those recordings and build a replica, and she is now able to use text-to-speech tools with full emotional range.
In a 2022 edition of the Patient Education and Counseling Journal, one study found that speech loss was experienced as distressing and traumatic, and it can lead to overall feelings of disempowerment and silencing. Furthermore, those who experience the loss of their voice box are at a higher risk of depression and job loss, which can result in intense social isolation.
Sotinsky uses her newfound voice to share her story and raise awareness across platforms and audiences, including on two personal websites and at various speaking engagements. One of these was an oncology conference organized by Dr. Sue Yom, a radiation oncologist at the University of California-San Francisco, where Sotinsky received treatment. After the event, attendee Dr. Jennifer De Los Santos began conducting a clinical trial to further examine the impact of AI technology on patient communication and quality of life.
Research like this is invaluable to expanding the quality and quantity of healthcare afforded to Americans. By drawing attention to the life-changing effects that AI can have on patient outcomes, like enhanced diagnostic capabilities, it will hopefully encourage more medical professionals to safely adopt these tools where appropriate.
Similarly, U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton lost her voice to a rare neurological disorder but was able to supply generative AI with old speech recordings to help construct a voice recreation. As a result, she delivered the first-ever AI-generated voice replica speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Dr. Yom notes, “Your voice is your identity. Communication is not only how we express ourselves and relate to other people, but also how we make sense of the world.” Sotinsky and Wexton both demonstrate this, with the former making sure to record herself saying things like “I’m proud of you” as a mother and “I’ll be right with you” for customer service as a business owner.
Building upon this, many individuals who suffer from voice loss for various reasons have routinely relied on archaic, robo-toned text-to-speech tools. Dr. Jori Fleisher, Director of Rush CurePSP Center of Care, reinforces the emotional toll one can experience after losing their ability to speak, highlighting how using robotic-sounding voice tools can often lead to similar circumstances and “worsens the social isolation that can be such a huge part of these conditions.”
New text-to-speech AI tools are changing that and helping individuals regain their sense of self.
These stories of empowerment are being chronicled across the media, from The Washington Post sharing the stories of ALS patients to the Associated Press highlighting Alexis Bogan’s path back to sounding more like herself after voice loss post-brain tumor removal. Spotlighting these experiences and the advocacy of individuals like Sotinsky and Rep. Wexton are crucial to the medical field’s adoption of AI. They put a human face to the numbers, demonstrating the real impact that technological integration affords everyday patients. They are using their voices every day to not only speak for themselves but for countless others who are courageously fighting similar battles.
These stories are just a handful of many where AI applications have begun to revolutionize healthcare. By studying and calling attention to the good that can come from AI being incorporated into treatment, patients and doctors can better understand how to apply these tools to improve the health experience and enhance outcomes. To continue on this path of progress, policymakers must keep these extraordinary benefits in mind to ensure that further innovations in this field are not stifled, so that consumers can have the opportunity to access them and improve their quality of life.