My AI equiped hearing aids have changed my life. I no longer dread going to a crowded restaurant with family and friends.  Because, in a nutshell, they do some of the work my brain can no longer do.  My fading cochleas are unable to pass on all the auditory information my brain needs to sift through the sounds of a noisy environment to pick out what I do want to hear. A dinner companion’s voice for example.

Today’s hearing aids use Deep Neural Networks that are trained to identify human voices, bring them to the fore and lower background noise.  If I walk into a kitchen, for example, the AI analyzes the soundscape in milliseconds and in effect decides that I don’t need to hear the stove’s vent fan, then it lowers its sound and lifts the sound of the cook.  It’s a capability older hearing aids can’t match.

It’s remarkable technology that’s now being harnessed by all of the major hearing aid makers. But there’s more to come.  In my latest article for HearingTracker I look ahead to what’s next for AI hearing aids, and that includes exciting capabilities such as “Bubbles” and “Targeted Hearing.”

You can read it here:  What’s Next for AI Hearing Aids