Vermont ALS patient gets his voice back through AI technology - WCAX
An ALS patient in Vermont regained his voice through AI technology, using a recording from a news story 14 years prior to clone his voice.
- Incident date
- May 2026
- Target
- Paul Francoeur
In 2026, Paul Francoeur, a Vermont resident with ALS, was able to regain his voice through AI technology. The technology uses AI to clone voices, even creating emotion in each word.
What happened
Francoeur needed clear audio from before he started losing his voice, but no old recordings were available. A news story from 14 years prior was located that featured Francoeur and contained 16 seconds of his voice. ElevenLabs used that recording to mirror his voice, allowing him to communicate with his own, cloned voice. His first words using the new technology were a thank-you message and raising awareness about ALS. He also planned to use it to speak to his grandkids, who had never heard his real voice.