JUDGE WITH MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE USES SYNTHETIC VOICE IN COURT
A judge with motor neurone disease (MND) is believed to be the first in the world to use a synthetic voice to preside over cases.
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael delivers rulings at a Dundee court using a computer-generated version of his voice recorded before he lost his ability to speak.
The sheriff was diagnosed with the disease last January after developing a lisp in May 2023.
Initially, only struggling with consonants, the disease has progressed to the point where his voice is now “almost totally” lost and his swallowing is “under pressure”, the sheriff said.
Sheriff Carmichael said he is still mobile but fears it is only a matter of time before that too could change.
MND is progressive and incurable, affecting different parts of people’s bodies. In Sheriff Carmichael’s case, it has primarily hit the muscles involved in speech and swallowing.
But despite the condition, the sheriff – one of 140 across Scotland – has decided to remain on the bench.
“I have spent almost my entire adult working life in public service,” he told STV News. “It’s important to me to carry on doing this for as long as I can.
“The diagnosis was something that I half expected, but it was still a massive disappointment. You don’t know if it will take weeks, months or years to do its work. I decided to try to carry on working and see where things would go.”
b'Gillian Wade KC, the sheriff principal who oversees the Dundee jurisdiction, said she expected to discuss Sheriff Carmichael stepping back when he first revealed his diagnosis.
“That certainly wasn’t the case,” she told the broadcaster. “He wanted to continue to work for as long as possible and to do so as fully as possible. Apart from the odd day off for medical appointments, he has had no time off through sickness.”
Working with NHS Tayside’s MND team and specialists from SpeakUnique, a voice technology company, Sheriff Carmichael recorded a series of phrases using his own voice while he still could.
The technology means he can make remarks and read out documents using a keyboard.
Initially, some of the sheriff’s comments in court were randomly delivered using an American voice for reasons he “couldn’t fathom”.
But a new system created by the court’s IT team now uses a British voice to read out most documents. The sheriff said he occasionally has to warn jurors that “sometimes I don’t know which voice is going to come out”.
The system is not without its flaws, the sheriff said, admitting he once accidentally dismissed a witness mid-questioning because he hit the wrong key trying to keep the laptop awake.
He added: “But in many ways, it’s really just like saying the wrong thing with your natural voice. We all do it, so you correct the mistake and carry on.”
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Sheriff Carmichael is still active and keeps up with his hobbies, like playing golf.
“What I do wonder every now and again is what MND will do to me, and by extension, to my family,” he said. “Perhaps I am avoiding the grim reality, but this isn’t something that I choose to dwell on.
“I prefer to think about it more along the lines of how you can best use the time that is left to you. Even if your natural voice is stuffed, you can find other ways to communicate and to carry on working.”
2025-11-12T15:35:29Z
