Montreal woman with ALS regains voice through AI app

Anne-Marie Poirier, a Montreal woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is using an AI application to speak in a voice resembling her own.

Poirier first experienced symptoms in August 2024 and was diagnosed with ALS a year later. She began losing her voice in October 2025 and has relied on communication applications since January. In May, she started using Vocality, an application developed by two young Montreal entrepreneurs that allows her to turn a few keywords into complete sentences, spoken aloud in a voice resembling her own.

"They are so happy. It’s as though they forget that my life is slowly coming to an end," she said, using the AI tool during an interview with The Canadian Press.

"It gives me energy, a feeling of being alive," she said.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is an incurable neurological disease that progressively destroys nerve cells controlling voluntary movement. Nearly 4,000 Canadians live with ALS, and about 1,000 are diagnosed each year, according to the ALS Society of Canada.

Development and features

Thomas Houlachi and David Ruiz founded Vocality in 2023. Houlachi was beginning his biomedical engineering studies at Polytechnique Montréal, and Ruiz studied software engineering at Concordia University. Two members of Houlachi’s family were diagnosed with ALS in 2021 and both lost their ability to speak by 2023. They died before the application was finalized.

Vocality launched on iPhones and iPads in June, with an Android version expected next week, according to Houlachi. More than 100 people across North America now use the application daily, according to Houlachi.

Users can download the tool and use it after getting a paid subscription. Eligible users may also qualify for financial assistance through ALS Québec, a non-profit organization that supports people living with the disease and their families.

The application allows users to enter a few keywords and have the application fill in the rest. It can also listen to conversations and suggest responses based on what others are saying. Vocality is compatible with eye-tracking equipment, allowing people with limited mobility to select words and phrases using their eyes rather than their fingers.

Using recordings of their speech, technology developed by AI company ElevenLabs can create a synthetic voice that Vocality uses to read messages aloud. For Poirier, the voice combines recordings of her actual speech with digitally generated words.

Vocality is now available in six languages and is being used by people with other conditions affecting speech, including cerebral palsy and some forms of aphasia.

Support and funding

Vocality has received business training, coaching, and $16,000 in financial support from Propolys, Polytechnique Montréal’s technology incubator. Houlachi said the firm also earned an additional $150,000 through fundraising and prize money from two contests.

Paul Shenouda, a partnerships manager at Propolys, said the founders’ willingness to involve patients early in the development process caught his attention.

"It’s rather rare to have a story that’s so sincere," Shenouda said.

Poirier learned about the project through ALS Québec, which helped recruit users to test the application. She has since regularly shared feedback with Houlachi.

Why it matters

For people who lose their ability to speak because of ALS, even a simple exchange can become a painstaking process, with conversations moving faster than they can write or type. Vocality aims to help users communicate faster and more smoothly while expressing themselves in a voice resembling their own.

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Sources

• ctvnews.ca: AI app helps Montreal woman with ALS hear her own voice again
• globalnews.ca: Quebec woman with ALS hears her own voice again thanks to AI app | Globalnews.ca

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.