ElevenLabs Presents: 11 Voices

They are living with ALS, Locked-In Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and other speech-impacting conditions. Through ElevenLabs, they can now communicate in voices that sound like themselves. Not generic, not robotic, but human. 

Each film captures what happens when someone regains more than the ability to communicate their basic needs. Reunited with their own, unique voice, they reclaim their personality, their presence and their place in the world around them. A performer returns to the stage. A hospital chaplain can pray over patients once again. A son can say, “Hey, mom!” in a voice his mother recognizes instantly.

At its core, this series asks a simple question: what does it mean to sound like yourself again?

The Impact Program

The Impact Program exists to put this technology directly into the hands of people who need it most.

Launched in 2024, the 1M Voices initiative began as a small ALS focused pilot in the United States. It has since evolved into a global effort supporting individuals with any diagnosis that causes permanent voice loss, including rare conditions such as Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Tay-Sachs disease, as well as head and neck cancers.

To date, the program has helped approximately 7,000 people reclaim their voices and has built a growing network of 25 nonprofit and AAC partners across Africa, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the United States. Additional partnerships are developing across Latin America and the Global South.

Behind the Camera

I had the honor of helping direct and produce all eleven films, and each day of filming was not your run-of-the-mill brand shoot. Instead of building an artificial world with actors playing product users, a film crew and I were entering the lives of real people and attempting to capture their stories. From the beginning, I was adamant that we centered these films on their human experience, and let the voice clones speak for themselves.

I laughed as Abdi gave the camera his best smoulder. I sang along to Sarah’s live performance. And to be honest, on most shoots, I cried. Not because the stories were too sad, but because witnessing this level of resilience up close was overwhelming. In the face of unimaginable life circumstances, every single person we filmed chose to live, to thrive, to connect with the people around them.

It is impossible to imagine a life where you can’t speak, in many cases can’t move, but can somehow still make everyone around you laugh and smile with your very own voice. ElevenLabs Impact Program is not giving people the functional capability of communication, it is giving people hope and the ability to be present in the world as their full selves. It gives the ability to renew vows and declare love in front of your community in your own words, it gives the chance to read to your grandkids who will know the voice of their own grandparents, it gives a yoga teacher her practice, and so much more. 

The Impact Program is about harnessing the power of AI audio to change lives for the better. We are honored to share these eleven voices with the world.

Legacy of Eric Dane

The release of 11 Voices is also an opportunity to honor the legacy of actor Eric Dane, an early champion of the ElevenLabs Impact Program and the 1 Million Voices initiative. Eric lived with ALS and experienced firsthand how the loss of speech can reshape daily life. 

Following Eric’s passing, his wife Rebecca Gayheart Dane has stepped forward to help carry forward his advocacy and ensure that others facing similar diagnoses can access our technology.

“Our voices are such an important part of who we are, and something most of us take for granted,” Rebecca shared. “As Eric's speech became gradually more impaired, I watched how that loss dimmed so much of his joy and sense of self. When he received his ElevenLabs voice, it made him emotional to have that part of himself back, and to know our daughters would always be able to hear his voice. It sounded just like him. Eric wanted to help as many people as possible through his advocacy work, and I hope to carry on his wishes by championing this program in his honor.”

Eric had originally planned to participate in the 11 Voices series himself, and we had begun early conversations about filming with him. Although that opportunity was cut short, we hope to find a meaningful way in the future to honor his story in the docuseries and the role he played in championing this work.

Watch the Full Series

Watch all 11 films here.