The Synergy of Hearing Aids and AI

You may think of your favorite sci-fi movie when somebody starts talking about artificial intelligence (AI). But these days, AI is more science than fiction. With regard to hearing aids, this is particularly true. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all hearing aids that simply increase the volume of sounds around you. Modern-day, high-end hearing aids use AI.

What is artificial intelligence?

AI is a sophisticated computer algorithm that makes use of data inputs to produce new results. AI is capable of using an algorithm to participate in a kind of learning known as “machine learning”. Once the algorithm is working correctly, there’s no need to “program” the AI to produce each individual result.

In the case of hearing aids, AI algorithms can help your hearing aids adjust to your personal needs depending on your behaviors, lifestyle, habits, and level of hearing loss. This makes your hearing aid more successful at improving your hearing.

How can you hear better with AI?

This might seem a little abstract at first. Hearing aids do seem to have a straightforward function, after all. How can things be improved by adding AI to the mix? Well, picture a recording studio with the soundboard full of switches and dials. (You’ve most likely seen them in movies.) There’s a tiny one of those inside of your hearing aid. Better quality of sound can be obtained by modifying these settings. AI-powered hearing aids move these digital dials and switches automatically, improving how you hear without any hassle by you.

This AI hearing aid imitates human brain response using a rich neural network. Without even being programmed to, these devices respond to real-time conditions because of this.

This may sound like futuristic science, but it’s the same basic technology that allows streaming services to suggest programming based on your viewing history. AI is also encountered in cars and the emails auto-sorted into your inbox. These devices become more adept at making appropriate decisions the more you use them.

New advances in AI hearing aids

These days, hearing aids are integrating several brand new improvements in AI to help you hear even better. Some of the most relevant instances include the following:

• Edge mode: This is a user activated, AI assist mode. Basically, you can initiate something called edge mode whenever you’re having a difficult time hearing. When this is triggered AI will start working on cleaning up what you’re hearing.
• Acoustic environment classification: Unique audio properties come with each individual room you walk into. Your hearing aids can handle some of those properties, but others it doesn’t do so well with. You will hear better in just about any environment with AI technology making practical automatic adjustments.
• Helping you hear through facemasks: Conversations were definitely harder 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 remain safe at the same time.
• Noisy room filters: New AI algorithms can help to filter out room noise in a number of loud or echo-prone locations. A hearing aid can have a difficult time with cross-talk, for example. But with an AI filtering out non-essential information, you’ll be able to hear more clearly what the person across from you is saying, even in a packed or noisy environment.

Hearing aid manufacturers and scientists are continuously innovating new hearing aid technologies, so this may be just the beginning.

AI for the discipline of audiology

AI has become a bit of a buzzword these days. Depending on the context, AI does different things, which can in some cases result in confusion. So when it comes to the field of audiology, how does AI integrate.

First, it means that researchers are looking for ways to make hearing aids even more helpful to patients. This research includes new technologies, like deep neural networks and machine learning. But it isn’t just hearing aids. Helping patients hear better and even diagnosing hearing loss are some things that AI will probably do in the future.

Patients will find AI in more and more of their devices as the technology becomes more reliable.

AI-assisted hearing aids and their benefits

In contrast to some other industries, AI is not being integrated into hearing aids simply because it’s the popular new thing. Some considerable advantages to patients are provided by these machine learning algorithms. Among those advantages are the following:

• You have more control over how you hear: Many AI-assisted hearing devices give you the option to turn off those algorithms. So the clarity of sound users hear will be more in their control. And this usually translates into hearing better more often.
• Health tracking and fall prevention: If you happen to fall while you’re wearing your hearing aids, your AI-assisted devices may be able to detect the significance and severity of your tumble. In the event of a severe fall, these hearing aids can, in some situations, alert the Authorities. AI can also make your health data easier to interpret, helping you know when you should be exercising more, eating better, or just hydrating more.
• Social engagement: With regard to managing social interaction, individuals who utilize AI-assisted hearing aids tend to be more successful, according to some research. The speech that they hear will be clearer in a wide array of settings, which probably accounts for better social interaction. With that being said, it’s not completely clear that AI is the defining factor in keeping your social life afloat. It most likely just helps people better preserve the relationships they already have.
• Helping you listen to devices: Your hearing aid can get feedback from lots of devices, like televisions, cell phones, speaker phones, and a range of other devices. This feedback can be filtered out by machine learning algorithms so the sound you actually want to hear is the only sound you will hear.

What this means for patients

For individuals with AI-assisted hearing aids these benefits often become real-world advantages. Imagine you were at a party having a discussion. If you were using an older-style hearing aid, it would just crank the volume up. And sadly, background noise also gets boosted making it impossible to hear voices. With AI, the hearing aid can tune in to the noise around you and react the way your brain would, dulling 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 specific location or sound profile. Other hearing aids with AI are programmed with everyday sounds in order to better define and amplify important sounds.

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

• Your quality of life will improve.
• You will feel less frustrated because you will be able to hear better.
• Your brain will experience a decreased cognitive load.

You will be able to spend time with friends again, watch your favorite shows, and take good care of your brain, in other words.

Cost vs. reward

There was a time when AI wasn’t available in the vast majority of hearing aids because of the costs involved. After all, the device itself has to perform some intense calculations (an algorithm, of course, is essentially a very fancy math problem). However, in part because of the preponderance of the technology, prices for AI hearing aids are starting to go down.

This doesn’t mean that every hearing aid you want might have AI, or even that those hearing aids will automatically be less costly in the near future. Obviously, the decision making is in the hands of the patient. But AI features are becoming more readily obtainable and prevalent.

Deciding what’s best for you

Hearing aids with AI may be overkill for somebody who lives by themselves and stays home a lot. To someone who is socially active and finds themselves in situations with lots of competing sounds, however, it makes a big difference.

For somebody who uses traditional hearing aids and still gets exhausted easily in social scenarios, AI hearing aids would be really helpful. Social situations are easier and the user will feel less fatigued with AI hearing aids. When the doorbell rings, or when you have a fall AI technology can alert you or a loved one and it can even track your steps. Hearing aids will continue to improve as AI technology improves.

How can AI technology help you? Call us to make an appointment!