KT unveils AI-powered technology that restores voices of Lou Gehrig patients

KT Corp. revealed on Wednesday this week that it was able to develop a technology that can restore the voices of patients suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. The company said that its personalized text-to-speech (P-TTS) technology successfully brought back the voices that the patients lost due to the said crippling disease that is also called ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

As per The Korea Herald, KT Corp. was able to develop the technology and achieve a good result in restoring the voices by using a small sample of a patient’s voice recordings. The telecom firm explained that based on the sample, the P-TTS technology reproduces the vocal tone and manner of speech by making use of artificial intelligence (AI) based on deep learning.

The technology works by having the patient type a message on KT’s Maeum Talk app then the application reads the message in the patient’s own voice. This project for those with ALS was said to have started when a wife of a patient contacted KT’s customer center to ask if she could use the company’s audiobook service so her children could continue to hear their father’s voice.

KT’s audiobook service is a feature that allows stories to be read in the parent’s voices. And from that inquiry, KT started to work together with a foundation dedicated to ALS patients. The company has so far duplicated the voices of eight patients and they were also allowed to keep using their voices via the Maeum Talk app for free.

“The aim of KT’s environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) is to practice digital engagement and bring change to customers’ lives by eliminating blind spots with our top-notch innovative technologies,” KT’s head of ESG management, Kim Moo Sung, said. “Like the voice-finding project, we will continue to take the lead in resolving various social issues with the technologies and solutions that KT can be the best at.”

Meanwhile, The Korea Economic Daily reported that KT Corp, also launched other AI-powered technologies this year via the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) fair in South Korea. So far, it has introduced a disinfection robot to help combat the spread of viruses.

This is a robot that is equipped with AI and big data for self-driving. The machine moves around to sterilize the floor while also purifying the air. This is a great invention that is suitable for today’s battle with COVID-19.