Uhura Bionics Founder Konrad Zieliński Says AI Voices Must Carry Laughter and Emotion on Tomorrow, Today
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Konrad Zieliński discusses voice technology, AI and data ownership on Tomorrow, Today.
Konrad Zieliński describes building non-invasive voice technology after losing his own voice and argues that people should own their voice data.
What's difficult is these tiny little bits of emotional vocalizations that make us human, like laughter, crying, shouting, expressing your affection.”
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, UNITED STATES, November 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Tomorrow, Today, the long-form interview series created and hosted by Shekhar Natarajan, has released a new episode featuring Konrad Zieliński, founder of Uhura Bionics, a company developing non-invasive, AI-assisted voice technology for people who have lost the ability to speak. Recorded at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, the episode covers Zieliński's own experience of losing his voice, the science of emotional speech and the questions AI voices raise for privacy and identity.— Konrad Zieliński
In the conversation, Zieliński explains that he lost his voice after a cancer diagnosis that began in 2018 and required the removal of his vocal folds. He says he was already working in speech technology at the time, which helped him record his voice and plan how to recreate it. Today he uses an electronic device that lets him run a business, work toward a doctorate and even sing in a live concert.
Zieliński says the company chose a non-invasive approach, using electronics rather than surgery or brain implants, so that the technology can reach a broad population.
"What's difficult is these tiny little bits of emotional vocalizations that make us human, like laughter, crying, shouting, expressing your affection," Zieliński said during the episode. "That's what we are trying to achieve."
Topics covered in the episode include:
- How controlling the intonation of his voice by hand helped him express emotions and ideas he struggled to put into words
- Why real-time voice conversion needs to fall to about 50 milliseconds of delay to work in face-to-face conversation, and his estimate that this could take two to three years
- How a team that includes musicians and audio engineers uses acoustic and speech-therapy knowledge to constrain its AI models
- Why he sees wearables that combine personal AI, human conversation and background AI agents as the next step for voice technology
- Why people should own their voice data and be free to take it to another provider
- Which tasks belong on the device and which can run in the cloud
- Why AI-generated voices used by people with disabilities may need a voice print that identifies the real person behind them
Zieliński also argues that speech technology will be fully accepted only when people with healthy voices choose to use it too, comparing the devices to glasses. People with disabilities, he says, want to be seen as people who use technology because they want to, not because they have to.
"A lot of people talk about AI and using it for writing letters and doing this and that," said Shekhar Natarajan, host of Tomorrow, Today. "Yours is one of those use cases which is really touching the humans in the right way."
The full episode is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlOAo0UyqXw
About Tomorrow, Today
Tomorrow, Today is a long-form interview series created and hosted by Shekhar Natarajan. The show features conversations with entrepreneurs, innovators, policymakers, scientists, educators and thought leaders on the technologies, ideas and decisions shaping the future, from artificial intelligence and business to leadership and education. Episodes are available on YouTube and major podcast platforms.
About Konrad Zieliński
Konrad Zieliński is the founder of Uhura Bionics, which he launched in 2023 to build voice technology for people who have lost their voices. A cognitive scientist, he trained at the University of Warsaw, where his research focuses on speech, communication and technology for people with disabilities. Uhura Bionics was selected for the Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.
About Shekhar Natarajan
Shekhar Natarajan is the founder and host of Tomorrow, Today and a former senior executive at American Eagle, Walmart, Target and Disney, where he led global initiatives in technology and supply chain strategy.
Shekhar Natarajan
Tomorrow Today Media
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Konrad Zieliński x Shekhar Natarajan | Tomorrow, Today
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