AI and Hearing Aids – the Synergy

You might think of your favorite sci-fi movie when someone mentions artificial intelligence (AI). But today, AI is a reality that we all need to get used to. When it comes to hearing aids, this is particularly true. Gone is the time of one-size-fits-all hearing aids that simply increase the volume of sounds around you. Contemporary, high-end hearing aids use AI.

Artificial intelligence – what exactly is it?

AI is a type of technology that uses complex algorithms to generate new results from inputs of data. AI is able to use an algorithm to take part in a type of learning known as “machine learning”. With AI the user doesn’t have to program every specific result because the algorithm does that by itself.

Depending on the amount of hearing loss, lifestyle, and habits, AI in hearing aids can make changes depending on your routines and your needs. This makes your hearing aid more effective at improving your hearing.

How can you hear better with AI?

This may feel a little abstract initially. Hearing aids do seem to have a straightforward function, after all. How can adding AI to the situation improve things? Well, you know that row of big dials and buttons that people utilize to mix music in recording studios? (You’ve probably seen them in movies.) There’s a tiny one of those inside of your hearing aid. Adjusting these settings can produce better quality sound. AI-powered hearing aids move these digital dials and switches automatically, enhancing the way you hear without any effort by you.

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 may sound like space-age science, but it’s the same basic technology that allows streaming services to recommend programming according to your viewing history. Newer cars use this technology to help you drive more safely and your email provider utilizes it to auto-sort emails into your inbox. These devices become more expert at making correct decisions the more you use them.

AI hearing aids – new advances

Presently, hearing aids are integrating multiple brand new advances in AI to help you hear even better. Here are some of the best examples:

• Noisy room filters: New AI algorithms can help to filter out room noise in a variety of loud or echo-prone locations. A hearing aid can have a hard time with cross-talk, for instance. But with an AI filtering out non-essential information, you’ll be able to hear more clearly what the individual across from you is saying, even in a packed or noisy setting.
• Edge mode: This is a user activated, AI assist mode. Essentially, you can initiate something known as edge mode whenever you’re having a difficult time hearing. This then activates the AI algorithm and the algorithm will start working to make your hearing clearer.
• Acoustic environment classification: Every room you go into has its own unique acoustic properties. Some of those properties are good for your hearing aids; some are negative for your hearing aids. You will hear better in just about any environment with AI technology making effective automatic adjustments.
• Helping you hear through facemasks: Conversations were definitely tougher during the pandemic when everybody was wearing a facemask. AI algorithms can automatically amplify those voices behind the facemask, helping those with hearing aids hear better and stay safe simultaneously.

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

AI for the discipline of audiology

AI has become a bit of a buzzword these days. Depending on the application, AI does different things, which can in some cases cause confusion. So, what does AI mean for the field of audiology?

Making hearing aids even more useful for patients is one of the first and most obvious things that researchers are tackling. New technologies, including machine learning and deep neural networks, are included in this research. But hearing aids aren’t the whole story. Helping patients hear better and even diagnosing hearing loss are a couple of the 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 dependable.

AI-assisted hearing aids and their advantages

AI is being integrated into hearing aids not because it’s the popular new fad, unlike other industries. These machine learning algorithms provide some significant advantages to patients. Here are some of those benefits:

• Social engagement: When it comes to dealing with social interaction, individuals who use AI-assisted hearing aids tend to be more successful, according to some research. This is likely because the speech they hear is clearer in a larger number of environments. But that doesn’t necessarily mean AI will make-or-break your social life. It probably just helps people better preserve the relationships they already have.
• You have more control over how you hear: You can turn on AI or turn it off with most AI-assisted hearing devices. So the quality of sound users hear will be more in their control. And this usually means a better overall hearing experience.
• Health tracking and fall prevention: When you’re wearing a hearing aid and you take a fall, your AI-assisted device can detect the severity of your fall. In the event of a serious fall, these hearing aids can, in some cases, alert the Authorities. Should you be hydrating more, exercising more, eating healthier? AI can make your health information easier to interpret.
• Helping you listen to devices: Microphones from cell phones, speaker phones, televisions, and other array devices can cause your hearing aids to feedback. Machine learning algorithms can help by filtering out this feedback, so all you hear is the sound you really want to hear.

What this means for patients

These benefits often translate into real-world advantages for those who use these AI-assisted hearing aids. Imagine you were at a party having a discussion. If you had 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 will create a location-by-location program to deal with the various types of sounds it picks up. These programs 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 everyday sounds.

Here are some other practical advantages to AI-assisted hearing aids:

• Your quality of life will get better.
• The cognitive load will be decreased.
• You will feel less frustrated because you will be able to hear better.

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

Due to the costs, AI wasn’t available in most hearing aids until recent times. After all, the device itself has to do some extreme calculations (an algorithm, after all, is basically a very elegant math problem). But prices are coming down, partially due to the prevalence of the technology.

That’s not saying that those hearing aids will definitely come down in price soon and you still might end up choosing a model that doesn’t have AI capabilities. Obviously, patients will still need to make important decisions. But AI functions are becoming more readily obtainable and prevalent.

Deciding what’s best for you

Hearing aids with AI might be overkill for somebody who lives by themselves and stays put a lot. But AI makes a big difference for individuals 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 really helpful. AI-powered hearing aids decrease the listener’s fatigue and make social situations more enjoyable. 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 work for you? Call us to schedule an appointment!