Congresswoman unveils new AI voice that mimics her speech

Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and subsequently Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) last year, is using AI technology to make her voice heard.

The 56-year-old Virginia lawmaker said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that AI technology helped her create a model of her voice based on the way she spoke before she was diagnosed with PSP, a rare and incurable brain disease that causes rapid deterioration of mobility and speech.

“Those of you who heard me speak before PSP robbed me of my full voice may think your ears are deceiving you now. I assure you, that is not the case,” Wexton said in a new video featuring her new AI-generated voice.

She added that she “cried tears of joy” when she first heard the AI ​​voice – which was very similar to her own – and that the new technology helped her “have the strength” to “get on with my life” and “do the job I love.”

Wexton said this all happened after she and her team compiled several “old clips” of her “public speeches” she had previously given in Congress. This was then used to create an AI model that showed what her voice sounded like before PSP “affected the volume and clarity” of her “speech.”

She noted that the AI-generated voice is a big improvement over the text-to-speech app she has used in congressional hearings over the past few months, including during her remarks on a bill in May, and a big step toward greater accessibility for those who need it.

The congresswoman said she hopes her new AI language model will help “showcase new and creative ways we can continue to support people facing health and accessibility challenges like me and show that our abilities do not define who we are.”

Wexton, who announced that she would not run for a third term in Congress in September 2023, had already spoken openly about her communication difficulties and the challenges of legislating with PSP in an interview with PEOPLE in May.

“The hardest thing is that I am no longer understood as I would like to be or as I used to be, especially as a former trial lawyer and now a politician,” she said at the time.

“This is such a big part of my job, whether I’m speaking to colleagues in the House chamber, where it’s very noisy, attending committee hearings, or out in my constituency meeting with constituents,” Wexton continued.

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She said that while she is “cognitively still the person I always was,” there are now more things that “take a lot more time” for her, like getting ready in the morning or showing up to vote on time.

Despite these difficulties, Wexton shared that she is looking forward to spending more time with her family and friends after her retirement and is grateful for their support. “I am very fortunate to be where I am now, with a strong support network of family, friends and my co-workers,” she noted.