The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Hearing Aids – What Is AI and How Does It Work?

Imagine you’re sitting in a bustling restaurant, eating a meal with a table full of friends. Conversations hum around you, the waiter is taking orders, the espresso machine hisses behind you, and yet, you can hear your friend’s voice crystal clear, despite the chaos. You might think it’s magic, but it’s actually cutting-edge technology: artificial intelligence (AI) hard at work inside your hearing aids. In fact, machine learning has been used in hearing devices since 2004. How can this technical wizardry enhance your hearing experience?

A lot of people are discussing AI lately without breaking down the different forms of AI — it’s not a one-size-fits-all function. There are a variety of helpful technologies that can be labeled as AI. The type of artificial intelligence used in hearing devices is called machine learning, and it has been revolutionizing hearing aids for decades. 

What Is Machine Learning?

First, let’s break down machine learning in a simple way. Think about your brain when you were first learning to ride a bike. If you’re like the rest of us, your first few tries at riding were wobbly at best. However, your brain can notice patterns. Riding a bike is just another pattern, a set number of motions and movements that lead to a successful action — balance this way, steer that way, and on. Soon, you start zooming around like a pro because your brain clocked the success or failure every time you did something new. Machine learning is like that, but for computers.

Machine learning is a form of artificial intelligence where a computer system learns from the data it processes. Instead of a programmer giving a machine a strict set of rules, machine learning allows the machine to learn from examples, a lot like how humans learn from experience. Over time, with more feedback and data, the machine gets better at predicting, identifying, and responding to various scenarios.

AI in Hearing Aids

Now, you may not think of your hearing aids as machines, but they are. Think of a hearing aid as a tiny supercomputer sitting behind or in your ear. The first hearing aids created did amplify sound, but they couldn’t differentiate between the rustling of paper, the chatter of your office-mates, and the music that is playing as you walk into your favorite coffee shop. This differentiation is where AI, and machine learning, changed the game entirely.

Hearing in Noise

Imagine you’re back at that noisy restaurant we spoke about earlier. Without machine learning, your hearing aid would be amplifying everything equally — from the clattering of dishes to the hum of chatter and the background music. All of that simultaneously is a lot of sound for your brain to process. This creates an overwhelming auditory experience! Here’s where machine learning saves the day. It recognizes patterns in sound, learning to distinguish between background noise and important sounds, like speech.

With AI, your hearing aids don’t just turn up the volume on everything. Instead, they selectively enhance the sounds you want to hear (like your friend’s voice) and tone down the background noise (like the espresso machine at the restaurant).

Sound Directionality

Have you ever felt like you need eyes in the back of your head to keep up with conversations? Machine learning in hearing aids acts like a legion of super-advanced ears in every direction. It allows your hearing device to focus on the direction a sound is coming from — front, back, side — to ensure that you catch every word in a group setting even if you’re not facing the speaker.

Using machine learning, hearing aids can switch between different listening modes depending on the environment. Are you sitting in a quiet living room? Your hearing aids will let all of the appropriate sounds through. Are you enjoying a noisy party? Your hearing aids will zero in on the person who is speaking to you. With AI, all of this happens automatically, without you having to lift a finger.

Personalization

Every human learns differently, and every human ear hears differently, as well. AI in hearing aids personalizes sound for your unique hearing profile. Machine learning algorithms analyze your hearing patterns and adjust sound settings to suit your specific needs.

For example, if you find hearing higher-pitched sounds to be a challenge (like birds chirping or the beep of a microwave), your devices will boost those frequencies for you. Over time, the hearing aid learns your preferences and adapts, ensuring you’re always getting the best sound quality for your unique hearing loss.

Feedback Reduction

Remember when every hearing aid user had to deal with that high-pitched squeal — the feedback from their hearing aids? That loud feedback was a gigantic negative to having hearing aids, and unfortunately, that issue still prevents people from getting hearing aids to this day. Watching your grandparents deal with it was uncomfortable.

This happens when amplified sound leaks out of your ear and is picked up again by the hearing aid microphone, such as when it is not inserted correctly or there’s earwax in your ear canal. The latest hearing aids use AI, and feedback is very much reduced. Machine learning helps by identifying and canceling out this feedback before it ever reaches your ear, keeping your hearing smooth and squeal-free.

Adaptation in Real Time

Life doesn’t stand still, and neither do the sounds around you. One minute you’re in a quiet room, and the next, you’re stepping into a bustling street. AI-equipped hearing aids adapt in real time, constantly analyzing the soundscape and making immediate adjustments. It’s like having a personal sound technician following you around, fine-tuning everything you hear while on the go.

How Does This AI Improve My Life?

You may be thinking that while the technology is neat, it may not be giving you any life-changing benefits. Machine learning makes it so your hearing experience is richer, clearer, and more natural. It reduces the cognitive load on your brain.

The ears capture sound and send it to the brain as electrical signals, where the brain processes

and interprets the information. This isn’t a passive process — the brain actively works to locate sounds in your environment, differentiate between relevant and irrelevant sounds, and make sense of the auditory world. When hearing loss occurs, the brain must work harder to fill in the gaps caused by missing sound.

Over time, this additional workload can lead to physical changes in the brain, increasing the risk of developing dementia. With AI, instead of working overtime to filter out unwanted noise, your hearing aids do the heavy lifting. This leaves your brain free to focus on enjoying the conversation, the music, or the sounds of nature. 

The Future Sounds Good

The best part? This is just the beginning. Machine learning is constantly evolving, which means hearing aids will continue to get better, and smarter. Imagine a future where your hearing aids can detect not just the type of sound you’re hearing, but also the mood or emotion in someone’s voice. Who knows what doctors and scientists will think up next that will vastly improve our lives through hearing devices?

In the grand scheme of things, AI and machine learning in hearing aids aren’t just about technology — they’re about enhancing your quality of life. They help you stay connected, engaged, and actively listening in every soundscape that life throws your way. Whether it’s the bustling sounds at an outdoor café, the rustle of leaves on a windy day, or the sweet giggles of your grandchildren — AI is ensuring you don’t miss a beat.