Skip to content

'Artificial intelligence gave me my voice back'

Bea SwallowBristol
PA Patrick Darling wearing a black hoodie underneath a black denim jacket, decorated with various colourful pins and patches. He has dark hair which is shaved on the sides, and a tattoo of a raven across the left side of his head. He is sitting outdoors in a park surrounded by trees, looking off to the left of the camera. In the background there is a row of terraced houses. PA
Patrick Darling lost his ability to sing and play instruments after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease

A musician who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) has returned to the stage after artificial intelligence (AI) gave him his voice back.

Patrick Darling, 32, from Bristol, has been a singer and composer since the age of 14 but was diagnosed with the degenerative condition at the age of 29.

He described losing the ability to sing and play instruments as "deeply profound and devastating", stripping him of his "biggest love".

Using digital software developed by ElevenLabs, he has been able to recreate a replica of his singing voice based on recordings from his past performances.

More from Bristol

MND is a condition that affects the brain and spinal cord. It can leave people unable to speak, eat or even breathe.

Prior to his diagnosis, Darling was the singer in Irish folk group The Ceili House Band.

Being predominantly self-taught, he learnt to play bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, melodica, mandolin and tenor banjo.

"Singing has always been my biggest love and I've spent most of my musical life performing live in various bands," he said.

"The ElevenLabs singing voice that we've created is wonderful and definitely sounds like me."

The technology enables users to take previous recordings of natural speech or sound from any audio source and generate accurate digital replicas.

MND Association Patrick appears to be singing into a microphone, with blue lighting behind him. He has short spikey hair and a piercing in one eyebrow. He wears a brown shirt. He has a guitar strap over his shoulder.MND Association
The musician said the AI generated voice "definitely sounds like me"

At an event on Wednesday, Darling took to the stage with his former guitarist Nick Cocking and violinist Hari Ma for the debut performance of Ghost Of A Man I Never Met.

Darling composed the music using ElevenLabs and combined the score with original lyrics he wrote himself.

His family, who have not heard him sing since the effects of his MND diagnosis, were in the audience to witness his comeback performance.

Darling said:"It provides hope, support and meaning to people in ways that you can't fully appreciate unless you've lived it yourself."

Speech therapist Richard Cave, who worked closely with Darling to design his AI voice, said: "Working with Patrick to give him back his singing voice after a lifetime making music has been an absolute privilege.

"Watching the song performed on stage with a live band is a moment I'll never forget," he added.

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.

More on this story