His was the last talk at the recent TED Conference. Technically it was his wife Chaz, his friends John Hunter and Dean Ornish, and "Alex" who spoke. The talk began with a clip of the computer HAL from the film "2001: A Space Odyssey". The talk ended with a joke by "Alex" (just to see if "he" could get some laughs), as follows:
A guy goes to a psychiatrist, who tells him, 'You’re crazy.'
He says, 'I want a second opinion.'
'You’re ugly.'
Who?
[+ Show Answer]
The critic Roger Ebert, who lost most of his jaw to cancer and hence the ability to communicate vocally. Instead, he has become an even more prolific writer and uses "Alex", a computer program to voice his thoughts.
There's a fascinating article on his condition and his response to it from last year, which is worth reading.