A disabled peer gives the first AI voiced speech in the UK Parliament, using an ElevenLabs recreation of her own voice
Today, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton delivered a speech in the @UKHouseofLords using an AI recreation of her voice, built by ElevenLabs. A first for the UK Parliament. Baroness Campbell has spinal muscular atrophy, which affects her speech. The Baroness has now created an AI voice that replicates the tone, rhythm, and pitch of her original voice. Our technology has now been used to restore the voices of more than 11,000 people who have lost their voices through injury or illness, and we’ve committed to help one million people living with voice loss around the world.
Context
It is a landmark use of voice cloning for accessibility, showing AI restoring a lawmaker's ability to speak for herself in a national legislature.
ElevenLabs' post is a first hand company claim, and the BBC, AFP and the Daily Mail independently reported the speech. Baroness Campbell, a crossbench peer and disability rights campaigner, has spinal muscular atrophy and has relied on an assistant to deliver speeches since 2012, according to ElevenLabs. The Lords Procedure Committee approved the use of the AI voice, AFP reported.
Deep dive
On October 13, ElevenLabs posted that Baroness Campbell of Surbiton delivered a speech in the House of Lords using an AI recreation of her voice built by ElevenLabs, calling it a first for the UK Parliament.
The company wrote that she created an AI voice that replicates the tone, rhythm and pitch of her original voice, and that its technology has now been used to restore the voices of more than 11,000 people who lost them through injury or illness. It said it has committed to help one million people living with voice loss.
According to ElevenLabs' blog, she spoke during the Second Reading of the Health Bill. She uploaded old clips of herself speaking, and her speech was generated with its text to speech tool and played through an assistive device. The Daily Mail reported the voice was built from past interviews including her 2012 appearance on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.
AFP reported that she told the chamber: This my lords is cutting edge technology and it will enable me to contribute to debates in my own, once clear voice before it began to deteriorate due to my disability. She then introduced the voice as Baroness Campbell Mark 2. AFP said ElevenLabs' Gabi Leibowitz, a speech therapist, helped fine tune the clone so it felt authentic to her voice before illness.
What to expect next
Watch whether other members of Parliament or legislators abroad with speech impairments adopt AI voices, and whether the Lords sets formal rules for their use.
Also watch how the same technology is policed against misuse, since voice clones of public figures can also be used for fraud and political deepfakes, a concern that will shape any rules Parliament adopts. ElevenLabs' goal of one million users will also test its safeguards.