AI and Hearing Aids – the Synergy

You may think of your favorite sci-fi movie when someone mentions artificial intelligence (AI). But these days, AI is more science than fiction. This is particularly true when it comes to hearing aids. The times when hearing aids simply boosted the volume and were one-size-fits-all are gone forever. AI is at the root of modern hearing aids.

Artificial intelligence – what exactly is it?

AI is a form of technology that makes use of sophisticated algorithms to produce new results from inputs of data. In this way, AI algorithms engage in a type of learning, aptly called “machine learning”. With AI the user doesn’t have to program every individual result because the algorithm does that by itself.

Depending on the degree of hearing loss, lifestyle, and habits, AI in hearing aids can make changes depending on your behaviors and your needs. Your hearing aids will be more effective at increasing your ability to hear because of this.

How does AI help hearing aids work better?

At first, this could seem a little abstract. After all, hearing aids seem to have a fairly straightforward function. How can things be enhanced by adding AI to the mix? Well, imagine a recording studio with the soundboard full of switches and dials. (Perhaps you’ve seen them in movies.) Your hearing aid has one of those! (It’s minuscule.) Adjusting these settings can produce better quality sound. With hearing aids that are powered by AI, these settings are adjusted automatically without requiring you to do anything.

These smart devices use a deep neural network to re-create human brain responses. Without even being programmed to, these devices react to real-time conditions because of this.

This is the same technology that lets streaming services recommend movies based on your viewing history, though it most likely sounds like space-aged technology at first. AI is also encountered in cars and the emails auto-sorted into your inbox. These devices become more proficient at making appropriate choices the more you use them.

New advances in AI hearing aids

Presently, hearing aids are incorporating several brand new advances in AI to help you hear even better. Some of the most relevant instances include the following:

• Noisy room filters: New AI algorithms can help to filter out room noise in a variety of loud or echo-prone locations. Cross talk, for instance, can often be hard on a hearing aid. But even in a noisy setting, you’ll be able to hear more clearly what the individual across from you is saying as AI filters out unwanted information.
• Helping you hear through facemasks: Conversations were certainly more difficult during the pandemic when everyone was wearing a facemask. AI algorithms can automatically amplify those voices behind the facemask, helping those with hearing aids hear better and stay safe at the same time.
• Acoustic environment classification: Every room you go into has its own unique acoustic properties. Your hearing aids can deal with some of those properties, but others it can’t handle very well. You will hear better in just about any environment with AI technology making practical automatic adjustments.
• Edge mode: This is an assist mode which can be initiated by the user. Essentially, when you have a hard time hearing, you can activate something called Edge Mode. This then initiates the AI algorithm and the algorithm will get to work trying to make your hearing clearer.

Hearing aid makers and scientists are constantly developing new hearing aid technologies, so this might be just the tip of the iceberg.

AI for the field of audiology

AI has become a bit of a buzzword these days. Everybody’s heard it, which is good, but the trouble is that AI does different things depending on the contexts. So, what does AI mean for the discipline of audiology?

Making hearing aids even more useful for patients is one of the first and most evident things that researchers are working on. This research includes new technologies, including deep neural networks and machine learning. But it’s not just hearing aids. In the future, AI might be able to help with detecting hearing loss or even helping patients avoid future hearing loss.

Patients will see AI in more and more of their devices as the technology becomes more dependable.

AI-assisted hearing aids and their advantages

AI is being incorporated into hearing aids not because it’s the hot new fad, unlike other industries. Some significant advantages to patients are offered by these machine learning algorithms. Here are some of those benefits:

• Helping you listen to devices: Microphones from cell phones, speaker phones, televisions, and other array devices can cause feedback in your hearing aids. Machine learning algorithms can help by filtering out this feedback, so all you hear is the sound you really want to hear.
• Social engagement: In terms of dealing with social interaction, people who use AI-assisted hearing aids are likely to be more successful, according to some research. This is probably because the speech they hear is clearer in a larger number of environments. With that being said, it’s not entirely clear that AI is the defining factor in keeping your social life healthy. It probably just helps people better maintain the relationships they already have.
• You have more control over how you hear: Many AI-assisted hearing aids give you the option to turn off those algorithms. This means hearing aid users will have more control over the quality of sound they hear. And this usually means a better overall hearing experience.
• Health tracking and fall prevention: When you’re using a hearing aid and you take a fall, your AI-assisted device can detect the seriousness of your fall. In the event of a severe fall, these hearing aids can, in some situations, alert the Authorities. AI can also make your health information easier to understand, helping you identify when you should be exercising more, eating better, or just drinking more water.

What this means for patients

For people who use AI-assisted hearing aids these benefits frequently become real-world advantages. Imagine you are having a discussion at a party. An older hearing aid would raise the volume on everything. This isn’t useful because the conversation you actually care about will get drowned out by background noise. With AI, the hearing aid can tune in to the noise around you and react the way your brain would, lowering background noise and focusing on your friends’ voices.

AI learns to recognize sounds and generates a location-by-location program. These programs help when you go back to a particular location or sound profile. Other hearing aids with AI are programmed with everyday sounds in order to better identify and amplify important sounds.

Some of the other practical advantages of AI-assisted hearing aids include the following:

• Your quality of life will get better.
• The cognitive burden will be reduced.
• You won’t be frustrated because you can’t hear (at least, not as often).

In other words, it’ll be simpler to hear your favorite shows, hang out with your favorite friends, and take care of your favorite brain.

Cost vs. reward

There was a time when AI wasn’t available in most hearing aids due to the costs involved. After all, the device itself must perform some extreme calculations (an algorithm, after all, is basically a very elegant math problem). However, partially because of the preponderance of the technology, prices for AI hearing aids are beginning to go down.

That’s not saying that those hearing aids will definitely come down in price soon and you still might wind up wanting a model that doesn’t include AI capabilities. Obviously, the decision making is in the hands of the patient. But, it does mean that these AI-assisted features are becoming more prevalent and more widely available.

Deciding what’s best for you

For somebody who lives alone and doesn’t go out much, hearing aids with AI might not be worth the additional cost. To someone who is socially involved and finds themselves in conditions with many competing sounds, however, it makes a big difference.

Hearing aids with AI are also helpful for somebody who is rapidly worn out in social situations where the chore of keeping up with conversations utilizing a traditional hearing aid is exhausting. AI-powered hearing aids decrease the listener’s fatigue and make social situations more enjoyable. AI technology can also send alerts to your phone when the doorbell rings, alert others that you have fallen, and track your steps. As technology and AI develop, hearing aids will continue to too.

Want to see how AI hearing aids can work for you? Schedule an appointment with us right away.

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