British Peer uses AI-generated voice to deliver speech in Parliament

Baroness Jane Campbell, a 67-year-old member of the House of Lords, has become the first person to use an artificial intelligence-generated voice to deliver a speech in Parliament. Campbell, who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disease that has impaired her ability to speak, used the technology to recreate her voice as it sounded before her condition worsened.

Working with the synthetic voice company ElevenLabs, Campbell received special permission from the House of Lords Committee of Privileges to deviate from long-standing protocols. During a debate focused on health, she introduced the technology as a breakthrough that would allow her to participate in discussions using her own voice.

While previous methods for speech assistance required assistants to read on behalf of members, this AI technology allows for a more personal representation. Experts noted that while older synthetic voices often sounded robotic, modern advancements allow for more natural results through specialized voice cloning processes.