The voice Alexis 香蕉视频直播淟exi香蕉视频直播� Bogan had before last summer was exuberant.

She loved to belt out Taylor Swift and Zach Bryan ballads in the car. She laughed all the time. In high school, she was a soprano in the chorus.

Then that voice was gone.

Doctors in August removed a life-threatening tumor lodged near the back of her brain. When the breathing tube came out a month later, Bogan had trouble swallowing and strained to say 香蕉视频直播渉i香蕉视频直播� to her parents. Months of rehabilitation aided her recovery, but her speech is still impaired.

In April, the 21-year-old got her old voice back. Not the real one, but a voice clone generated by that she can summon from a phone app. Trained on a 15-second time capsule of her teenage voice 香蕉视频直播� sourced from a cooking demonstration video she recorded for a high school project 香蕉视频直播� her synthetic but remarkably real-sounding AI voice can now say almost anything she wants.

THE RISKS

Experts have warned that rapidly improving AI voice-cloning technology can amplify phone scams, disrupt and violate the dignity of people 香蕉视频直播� living or dead 香蕉视频直播� who never consented to having their voice recreated to say things they never spoke.

It香蕉视频直播檚 been used to produce to New Hampshire voters mimicking President Joe Biden. In Maryland, a high school athletic director with using AI to generate a fake audio clip of the school香蕉视频直播檚 principal making racist remarks.

But Bogan and a team of doctors at Rhode Island香蕉视频直播檚 Lifespan hospital group believe they香蕉视频直播檝e found a use that justifies the risks. She香蕉视频直播檚 one of the first people and the first with her condition to work with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI to replicate a lost voice.

香蕉视频直播淲e香蕉视频直播檙e hoping Lexi香蕉视频直播檚 a trailblazer as the technology develops,香蕉视频直播� said Dr. Rohaid Ali, a neurosurgery resident at Brown University香蕉视频直播檚 medical school and Rhode Island Hospital. Millions of people with debilitating strokes, throat cancer or neurogenerative diseases could benefit, he said.

TRAINING AN AI VOICE

Bogan had to go back a few years to find a suitable recording of her voice to 香蕉视频直播渢rain香蕉视频直播� the AI system on how she spoke. It was a video in which she explained how to make a pasta salad.

Her doctors intentionally fed the AI system just a 15-second clip. Cooking sounds make other parts of the video imperfect. It was also all that OpenAI needed 香蕉视频直播� an improvement over previous technology requiring much lengthier samples.

Getting something useful out of 15 seconds could be vital for any future patients who have no trace of their voice on the internet. A brief voicemail left for a relative might have to suffice.

When they tested it for the first time, everyone was stunned by the quality of Bogan香蕉视频直播檚 voice clone. 香蕉视频直播淚 get so emotional every time I hear her voice,香蕉视频直播� said her mother, Pamela Bogan, tears in her eyes.

USING AN AI VOICE

Bogan types a few words or sentences into her phone and her custom-built app instantly reads it aloud.

She now uses her AI voice about 40 times a day and sends feedback she hopes will help future patients. One of her first experiments was to speak to the kids at the preschool where she works as a teaching assistant.

She香蕉视频直播檚 used it at stores to ask where to find items. It香蕉视频直播檚 helped her reconnect with her dad, who has hearing loss and was struggling to understand her. And it香蕉视频直播檚 made it easier for her to order fast food.

香蕉视频直播淗i, can I please get a grande iced brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso,香蕉视频直播� said Bogan香蕉视频直播檚 AI voice as she held the phone out her car香蕉视频直播檚 window at a Starbucks drive-thru.

香蕉视频直播淚 think it香蕉视频直播檚 awesome that I can have that sound again,香蕉视频直播� she said. It香蕉视频直播檚 helping to boost her confidence and restoring a part of her identity she thought she was losing forever.

WHO香蕉视频直播橲 NEXT?

Bogan香蕉视频直播檚 doctors have started cloning the voices of other willing Rhode Island patients and hope to bring the technology to hospitals around the world. OpenAI said it is treading cautiously in expanding the use of the tool it calls Voice Engine, which is not yet publicly available.

Other companies with commercially available voice-generation services say they prohibit impersonation or abuse, but they vary in how they enforce their terms of use.

香蕉视频直播淲e want to make sure that everyone whose voice is used in the service is consenting on an ongoing basis,香蕉视频直播� said Jeff Harris, OpenAI香蕉视频直播檚 lead on the product. 香蕉视频直播淲e want to make sure that it香蕉视频直播檚 not used in political contexts.香蕉视频直播�

Harris said OpenAI香蕉视频直播檚 next step involves developing a secure 香蕉视频直播渧oice authentication香蕉视频直播� tool so users can replicate only their own voice, with a possible exception for trusted medical providers working with a patient.

While for now she must fiddle with her phone to get the voice engine to talk, Bogan imagines an AI voice engine that improves upon older remedies for speech recovery in melding with the human body or translating words in real time.

She香蕉视频直播檚 less sure about what will happen as she grows older and her AI voice continues to sound like she did as a teenager. Maybe the technology could 香蕉视频直播渁ge香蕉视频直播� her AI voice, she said.

For now, 香蕉视频直播渆ven though I don香蕉视频直播檛 have my voice fully back, I have something that helps me find my voice again,香蕉视频直播� she said.

___

The Associated Press and OpenAI have that allows OpenAI access to part of AP香蕉视频直播檚 text archives.

Matt O香蕉视频直播檅rien, The Associated Press