Lewis Moody says using AI to bank his voice after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease has been “warming”.
The 47-year-old former England rugby union international announced in October that he was suffering from MND, an incurable and life-limiting neurological condition that affects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord.
MND affects speech by weakening the muscles in the mouth, tongue, lips and chest, and the ability to speak can be lost completely.
On the idea of using technology to create a personalised artificial voice, Moody told Sky Sports: “The idea of doing it, I probably delayed for a while at the start because I was like ‘no, I don’t need to do that, I’m fine’.
“But why wouldn’t you, especially with the advancement of AI now, or all the stuff that’s happening in this space, is that the more information you can have for the tools and the algorithms, then the better.
“So, I’ve done numerous things. One of my mates, Dodge, has got a studio that we borrowed, and he’s recording videos that you can create virtual avatars and the voice.
“And also, content around my behaviours and thought processes so that AI eventually can have the ability to predict what you’re thinking.
“Actually knowing that there is something, or that there is a better way of making effective communication easy – and that’s been really sort of warming.”
Former back-rower Moody – part of England’s 2003 World Cup-winning squad – said the thought of not feeling the “warmth” of embracing people as his condition progresses has been “terrifying”.
He said: “The only thing I was scared of was – as someone that loves communicating with people and, you know, feeling the warmth and embracing, the sort of non-communicative skills – there’ll be a time when you can’t do either potentially. So that was terrifying.
“The longer my symptoms are as they are, the more everything around me will advance.
“And, you know, just know that if and when that time arrives, you’ll be in a better space.”
Moody, who will undertake a 500-mile, seven-day cycling challenge this summer to raise money for research into MND, says he has had “amazing” support from his network of “close friends” inside the rugby community.
Several high-profile rugby players have had MND, including the late trio Doddie Weir, Joost van der Westhuizen and Rob Burrow, who made his name in rugby league.
Moody said: “I’m doing good. You just focus on the things that you still can do and not worry about things that are changing or anything like that.
“Figuring out how you mentally deal with each little change, things that you notice, that’s the hardest bit.
“A week or two ago I had loss of strength in the middle fingers, and that hit me really hard because it coincided with a couple of difficult conversations.
“So I had two days of mentally feeling hit. But then you quickly come out of it. I can quickly recognise that I’m in that state.”
