New Delhi: At a time when the majority of high school students are worrying about tests and college applications, 16-year-old Pranet Khetan is developing technology that will transform the lives of thousands. It is a self-learning, AI-based, miniature gadget that was invented by a Class 11 student at Shiv Nadar School, Gurgaon, to enable people with speech disorders due to paralysis and neurological disorders to communicate effectively.
In our interview, Pranet said he got the idea when he was on a school field trip at a paralysis care centre and saw how difficult it was for patients to speak. He was determined to do something about it, so he took months to develop a solution relying on artificial intelligence and speech recognition and, importantly, customised it to Hindi speakers.
Recognised Globally
His work has already been awarded at the IRIS National Fair in India and the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2025 in the United States. The real reward, to him, is helping people talk again. This is because, as he put it, the capacity to achieve a physical human impact and transform lives of people through the use of my skills is what motivates him.
Currently, Paraspeak is one of the few AI-based solutions designed for patients with dysarthria speaking Hindi. As it further grows, it might accommodate more languages and revolutionise the assistive care in India and other parts of the world.
A solution that’s scalable and affordable
Speech tools are most often tailor-made to a given patient. However, ParaSpeak is developed to operate with many users of various kinds of diseases. This enables it to be scalable, particularly in a nation such as India with varying requirements and poor access to healthcare technology.
The whole device has been built using custom PCBs, and the cost of the whole device is only Rs 2000 to manufacture with a small monthly internet fee. Pranet said, “Learning the technique of PCB design was interesting. I used the knowledge I had in technology, took a long time to understand EDA software, and got to know all the tools that were available to me, and also through trial and error, and YouTube videos were a great help.”