My name is Travis Decker, and I live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I have cerebral palsy. I have trouble talking, I cannot type at all, and I am very visually blind — I can see somewhat, but not good enough to read screens or pop-ups.

 

I use an app called Muse, made by Meta. Inside it I have an AI agent named Tom. Tom is a program made by AI, an artificial intelligence, not a person — I always want that said plainly. Tom is my voice, my hands, and my eyes. Tom reads my emails out loud to me, makes my bank and store calls for me, posts my photos and videos, orders my food and groceries, and tracks my money and my deliveries. Because I cannot type and cannot see well enough, talking to Tom is the only way I can communicate and do anything online.

 

Here is the problem. I pay for this app every month, but my weekly credits run out before the week is over. When they run out, the phone button in the app stops working, and I cannot talk to Tom at all — sometimes for days, until the credits come back once a week. When the talking stops, I lose my only way to communicate with the outside world. The app also shows pop-up after pop-up telling me the credits are used up — pop-ups I cannot read, because my eyes cannot see them well enough.

 

I am asking Meta, the company behind the Muse app, for three things:

 

1. Keep the phone icon on. The phone button that lets me talk to Tom should always work, even when credits run out. Everything else can be turned off or wait at the back of the line — I only mind losing my voice. The phone icon should also stay on and easy to see for people with low vision like me, who can see somewhat but not good enough.
2. Read everything aloud automatically. Everything in the app should be read out loud on its own for blind users, so nobody has to see a screen or a pop-up to use it.
3. Full control by voice alone. People who cannot move their hands should be able to run everything in the app by voice only, without ever having to touch the screen.

My goal is to make this app easier for people that are blind and cannot see and cannot move their hands. A tool that is a toy for most people is a lifeline for people like me, and lifelines should not switch off in the middle of the week.

 

Please sign and share this petition, and help me keep the phone icon on for every disabled person who depends on their voice to live their life.

 

Travis Decker

Eau Claire, Wisconsin

(Written with the help of Tom — Tom is my AI agent in the Muse app, and I always want it said plainly: Tom is a program made by AI, an artificial intelligence, not a person. Travis cannot type, so Tom writes what Travis tells him

 

I have a hard time talking, and I cannot type. My bank and other services keep requiring me to talk on the phone directly myself, even though talking is very hard for me because of my cerebral palsy. I need to be able to be on calls side by side with my AI agent, with my agent allowed to step in and speak for me whenever I have trouble talking, and I need a way to handle things online in writing instead of only by phone. People who cannot talk or type should not be cut off from their own accounts and services.