Eleven years ago, country music legend Randy Travis lost his voice to a stroke despite keeping 100% of his cognitive skills. Randy used AI to regain his singing voice and released a new single utilizing a mix of AI voice cloning blended with a surrogate voice.
Check out both of these articles for more details: More than a decade after a stroke, Randy Travis sings again, courtesy of AI and On The Beauty and Dilemma of the New A.I. Randy Travis Song.
It is important to note that even though Randy is non-verbal, those close to Travis assure that he is still 100% cognitive, aware, understanding, and even communicative both through simple visual affirmations, as well as writing or typing out things he wishes to communicate.
I see more unethical and ethical questionable stories about exploitive behavior with AI. It’s refreshing to see a story about a living artist literally regaining their voice, which was otherwise lost from a life-altering stroke.
