The Synergy of Hearing Aids and AI

When somebody talks about artificial intelligence (AI), it may conjure thoughts of your favorite sci-fi movie. But nowadays, AI is more science than fiction. When it comes to hearing aids, this is particularly true. Gone is the time of one-size-fits-all hearing aids that simply raise the volume of sounds around you. AI is at the root of modern hearing aids.

Artificial intelligence – what exactly is it?

AI is a sophisticated computer algorithm that utilizes data inputs to produce new results. In this way, AI algorithms engage in a kind of learning, aptly called “machine learning”. When the algorithm is working correctly, there’s no need to “program” the AI to produce each separate result.

Depending on the extent of hearing loss, lifestyle, and habits, AI in hearing aids can make modifications depending on your routines and your requirements. This makes your hearing aid more successful at improving your hearing.

How can AI help hearing aids work more effectively?

This might feel a bit abstract at first. Hearing aids do seem to have a basic function, after all. How can adding AI to the mix enhance things? Well, imagine a recording studio with the soundboard full of switches and dials. (Maybe you’ve seen them in movies.) Your hearing aid has one of those! (It’s tiny.) Adjusting these settings can produce better quality sound. With hearing aids that are powered by AI, these settings are adjusted automatically without needing you to do anything.

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

This is the same technology that lets streaming services suggest movies based on your viewing history, though it probably sounds like futuristic technology initially. Newer cars utilize this technology to help you drive more safely and your email supplier uses it to auto-sort emails into your inbox. The more you use these devices, the more efficient they become at making proper decisions.

AI hearing aids – new innovations

Hearing aids these days are helping you hear even better with new developments in AI technology. Here are a few of the best examples:

• Helping you hear through facemasks: During the pandemic, everybody was masking up, which was good, but definitely made conversations with a hearing aid more challenging. AI algorithms can automatically amplify those voices behind the facemask, helping individuals with hearing aids hear better and remain safe simultaneously.
• Edge mode: This is an assist mode which can be activated by the user. Basically, you can initiate something called edge mode whenever you’re having a hard time hearing. This then activates the AI algorithm and the algorithm will get to work trying to make your hearing clearer.
• Noisy room filters: New AI algorithms can help to filter out room noise in a number of loud or echo-prone settings. A hearing aid can have a hard time with cross-talk, for example. But with an AI filtering out non-imperative information, you’ll be able to hear more clearly what the person across from you is saying, even in a crowded or noisy setting.
• Acoustic environment classification: Unique audio properties come with each individual room you go into. Your hearing aids can handle some of those properties, but others it can’t handle very well. You will hear better in nearly any environment with AI technology making practical automatic adjustments.

This is likely only the start of the developments scientists and manufacturers are making.

How is AI employed in the discipline of audiology?

These days, AI has sort of become something of a buzzword. Depending on the application, AI does different things, which can sometimes cause confusion. So, what does AI mean for the field of audiology?

Making hearing aids even more helpful for patients is one of the first and most evident things that researchers are working on. New technologies, like machine learning and deep neural networks, are a big part of this research. 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.

As the technology grows and becomes more reliable, patients can expect to see artificial intelligence in more of their devices.

The advantages of AI-assisted hearing aids

AI is being integrated into hearing aids not because it’s the popular new fad, in contrast to other industries. Some considerable benefits to patients are provided by these machine learning algorithms. Here are a few of those benefits:

• You have more control over how you hear: Many AI-assisted hearing devices 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 often means hearing better more often.
• Social engagement: Studies have shown that individuals who wear AI-assisted hearing aids are more successful with regard to managing their social engagement. The speech that they hear will be clearer in a wide variety of settings, which probably accounts for better social engagement. Having said that, it’s not completely clear that AI is the defining factor in keeping your social life healthy. It most likely just helps people better maintain 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 want to hear is the only sound you will hear.
• Health tracking and fall prevention: When you’re using a hearing aid and you take a tumble, your AI-assisted device can determine the severity of your fall. In some cases, these hearing aids might be programmed to automatically alert authorities or loved ones in the event of a major fall. Should you be drinking more water, exercising more, eating healthier? AI can make your health data easier to understand.

How does this impact patients?

For individuals who use AI-assisted hearing aids these benefits often translate into real-world advantages. Imagine you were at a party having a conversation. 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. An AI hearing aid is intelligent and will be capable of identifying and boosting a person’s voice while dulling unwanted noise.

AI will create a location-by-location program to address the various types of sounds it picks up. These algorithms help when you return to a particular location or sound profile. In order to better identify and amplify important sounds, some AI hearing aids are programmed with day-to-day sounds.

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

• You won’t be frustrated because you can’t hear (at least, not as often).
• You will have improved quality of life.
• Your brain will experience a decreased cognitive load.

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.

Reward vs. cost

Due to the costs, AI wasn’t offered in the majority of hearing aids until recently. After all, the device itself must do some intense calculations (an algorithm, of course, is essentially a very fancy math problem). However, partially because of the prevalence of the technology, prices for AI hearing aids are beginning to go down.

That’s not saying that those hearing aids will absolutely come down in price soon and you still might wind up choosing 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.

Figuring out what option is best for you

Hearing aids with AI might be too much for someone who lives by themselves and stays home a lot. But AI makes a huge difference for people who are socially active and go out into loud situations a lot.

For somebody who uses traditional hearing aids and still gets fatigued easily in social situations, AI hearing aids would be very helpful. Social situations are simpler and the user will feel less exhausted 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. As technology and AI develop, hearing aids will continue to too.

Want to find out how AI hearing aids can help you? Make an appointment with us right away.