What is AI in Digital Hearing Aids?

The digital portion of hearing aids takes sound waves that are picked up by the microphone sent into the
processor and the processor turns them into zeros and ones. The zeros and ones can then be
manipulated, processed and sent into the amplifier and speaker of the hearing aid that is then
channeled into the patients’ ears.

AI has been used in hearing aids since the late 90’s by just a few hearing aid manufacturers. Essentially
what AI is in hearing aids are programs or algorithms that are “taught” to notice changes or patterns in
the zeros and ones that come from the microphone. Based on how the AI is taught the zeros and ones
are manipulated to enhance or reduce the signals that have been received.

Early AI hearing aids could “listen” for certain noises, reduce them and change how the microphones
picked up sounds from certain directions. Usually only a very few common noises could be reduced.
Most digital hearing aids were limited in function by battery drain, processing power, chip size and
programming knowledge.

Current AI technology is in a revolutionary stage. Processing power, battery life, chip size and
programming knowledge is advancing at an amazing pace. One leading hearing aid manufacturer has
used tens of millions of sound samples to train its AI to “listen” for the patient who is wearing the
hearing aids. The algorithms that are being developed allow for instant automatic adjustments,
enhancing speech recognition and listening ability for the patient who is using the hearing aids.

Clinical outcomes are showing enhanced activity for AI hearing aid patients in the speech and language
areas of their brains. Positive blood flow to portions of the brain during use is also being observed.
Many of the common complaints from older non AI hearing aids about listening in noise are becoming
less. More importantly, patient wearing time and satisfaction ratings are going up. Some studies are
even showing patients who wear their hearing aids all the time are living longer.