When April Kerner first started losing her voice, she wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to communicate with her family again.
Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the disease not only affected Kerner’s mobility, but also her ability to speak.
However, thanks to artificial intelligence technology, the 42-year-old said she can successfully communicate using a program that sounds like her old voice.
“I cried the first time I heard it because it was basically my voice again,” Kerner, a mother of three, told ABC News.
Kerner’s symptoms began in April 2022, when she began experiencing weakness in her right leg. She fell for the first time the following month, on Mother’s Day.
Pictured: April Kerner (second from left) with her children (left to right) Ryker, Jax and Ava.
Thanks to Bill and April Kerner
April and her husband, Bill Kerner, visited a slew of doctors over the next few months, including an orthopedic doctor, a spine doctor and several neurologists, before she was diagnosed with ALS three days after Christmas in December 2022.
ALS is a neurological disorder that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movements and breathing.
As the nerve cells – called motor neurons – degenerate, they no longer send messages to the muscles. This causes the muscles to weaken and waste away, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
ALS patients eventually lose the ability to control voluntary movements, including walking, talking and chewing, as well as breathing. The Institute for Neurological Diseases said ALS is a progressive disease, meaning symptoms worsen over time.
April and Bill Kerner said the news was a shock to both of them.
‘We knew something was going on, but we always hoped it would be reversible in November [2022]She couldn’t walk, so we were hoping it was something other than ALS, really,” Bill said. “It was devastating because we had so many plans. Our children are still so young. I mean, that was two years ago, so they were four and five at the time.”
One of the first things the Kerners did after being diagnosed was travel from their home in Frederick, Maryland, to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, in April 2023 with their three children – Ryker, Ava and Jax – to make memories to do. before April started to lose more function of her limbs.
In May 2023, April started losing her voice. The following month she developed breathing problems and had to have a trachea inserted, which completely took away her voice.
April Kerner, from Frederick, Maryland, was diagnosed with ALS in December 2022. Pictured with her husband, Bill (second from right) and her children (L-R): Ava, Jax and Ryker.
Thanks to Bill and April Kerner
In a search for a method that would still allow April Kerner to communicate, the Kerners learned about ElevenLabs, an AI audio research and implementation company focused on creating human-like text-to-speech programs.
The company asked if the couple could submit some recordings of her voice, Bill Kerner said. Using AI, ElevenLabs created a voice program that closely resembled April Kerner’s original voice and not the robotic voice usually heard in traditional text-to-speech programs. April Kerner types what she wants to say with her eyes and the program generates a voice.
The program is not perfect; For example, the cadence of the voice replica is a bit slow according to the Kerners. However, it is the closest to her original voice.
“It’s amazing. It’s her real voice,” said Bill Kerner. “We never thought we’d hear her real voice again. It means a lot. … It gave us a part of her that took away this terrible disease from her that we never thought would happen again, and that’s why his we are so grateful.”
The Kerners said their children love hearing April’s AI voice communicate with them and read them bedtime stories.
“They love it. The first time they heard Mom’s voice again, they all started jumping up and down… when they heard her, and they got excited,” Bill Kerner said. “And the stories she creates, the kids love them. They come together. We have story time. They get excited.”
April said telling bedtime stories to her children is also her favorite part of her AI voice.
“I can no longer sit and read a regular book to the kids, so this is a way for us to connect,” she said.
Bill Kerner added that one of the things that bothers his wife most is her lack of mobility, including not being able to hug her children without assistance, but the AI voice has given her back some independence.
April Kerner is currently on a ventilator and has a feeding tube, which she says makes every day a challenge. However, she is hopeful that by sharing her story, she can spread the message about ALS and its debilitating effects.
“Despite the challenges I face, I am determined to continue fighting for my family and being there for my children,” she said. “They are my motivation to keep moving forward, even on the hardest days.”
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC News, this ABC channel and invests in ElevenLabs.
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