There is a new study that is highlights an fascinating application of artificial intelligence. While the application of this latest technology has been on a number of industries such as the banking sector and also the medical sector, it is now turning out that it can be used to turn the thoughts of people into speech!
Scientists have already harnessed artificial intelligence to translate brain signals into speech. According to research, the development is a step that's geared towards brain implants that could let people with impaired abilities speak up their minds. There are people who lost their speaking ability either through brain injury or due to neurological disorders who scientists now believe the technology could help restore their speaking ability.
Scientists from California have used electrodes and artificial intelligence to a device that can brain signals into speech. According to the scientists, their experimental decoder could ultimately lead to an implant that can easily be inserted into the brain. The implant could then be used to make it easy for people, who have lost their speaking ability to diseases such as stroke, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis to be able to speak their minds.
AI (artificial intelligence) technology that is used with regards to the interpretation of the thoughts of an individual to make a speech is able to identify and translate monosyllabic words from the brain activity of the subject. The process involves attaching specialized electrodes to the skulls of participants and entire sentences can be produced. There are five epilepsy patients who participate in the research who read sentences out loud. Researchers went ahead to record their neural activity by combining the date with previous studies that were focused on how the tongue, lips, jaw, and larynx produce sound.
Of the 101 sentences recorded in the study, seventy percent of the words were understandable. As things stand now, the technology cannot be used on people who cannot speak at all. However, the authors of the report hope that the breakthrough could open the way for such an application in the foreseeable future. Having the ability to communicate with other people would be a big advantage for patients with mental health problems.
Given the quick speed by which this technology has grown over the last decade, researchers involved in its development are hopeful that its application could soon be a reality. However, there is also rising concern regarding the use of the technology with questions surfacing about guarantees of privacy for patients involved.
