People with a motor neuron disease gradually lose their ability to move and control muscles. In time, they may lose their voices. Thanks to new technology, however, it’s sometimes possible for them to get a voice clone.

AI is bringing back those lost voices. Both Jules and Joyce have fed an AI tool built by ElevenLabs recordings of their old voices to re-create them. Today, they can “speak” in their old voices by typing sentences into devices, selecting letters by hand or eye gaze. It’s been a remarkable and extremely emotional experience for them—both thought they’d lost their voices for good.

That’s a pretty fantastic use of technology. It’s not without issues though, as Joyce Esser found, when she was temporarily banned for something she said.