Cancer stole her voice. She used AI, curse words and kids’ books to get it back


By April DemboskyKQED
After an oral cancer diagnosis, Sonya Sotinsky had her tongue and larynx removed. She later found a way to deploy an AI-generated voice to express herself, complete with an authentic New Jersey accent, using past recordings of her speech. A portable keyboard helps her control the text-to-speech software on her phone. — April Dembosky/TNS

When doctors told her they had to remove her tongue and voice box to save her life from the cancer that had invaded her mouth, Sonya Sotinsky sat down with a microphone to record herself saying the things she would never again be able to say.

“Happy birthday” and “I’m proud of you” topped the phrases she banked for her husband and two daughters, as well as “I’ll be right with you”, intended for customers at the architecture firm she co-owns in Tucson, Arizona.

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