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Artificial intelligence is one of the most remarkable advances of our time. This technology has made some things possible that weren’t possible, especially in the healthcare space. Thanks to AI, a paralyzed woman has been able to speak for the first time in 18 years.
A brain-computer interface for communication
Artificial intelligence is often described as a technology capable of imitating human intelligence. It has made many achievements possible that could be described as miracles. What began as rudimentary rule-based systems have now evolved into complex neural networks capable of recognizing faces, driving cars, understanding speech and even rendering speech back to those who can no longer speak it.
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This is particularly the case with a patient named Ann Johnson. After a stroke 18 years ago, she suffered permanent paralysis and also lost the ability to speak. Thanks to a brain implant and artificial intelligence, she is now able to communicate verbally via a digital avatar. Specifically, researchers implanted a series of electrodes on the surface of his brain to transmit his brain activity to a computer.
AI algorithms then translate the recognized signals into words. After a brief delay, the avatar on the screen speaks Ann’s words out loud. In total, the scientists trained a recurrent neural network to map its brain signals to 39 different phonemes (the sound units that we put together to form words when we speak). Even better, the AI also makes it possible to modulate the avatar’s facial expressions according to the patient’s emotions.
A promising technology for people who lack the ability to speak
Developed by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley, this AI-powered system allows the patient to speak through her digital avatar at a speed of 62 words per minute. The system has an error rate of 23.8% for a vocabulary of 125,000 words, but this margin will be further improved in the future. If Ann Johnson was the first patient to benefit from this revolutionary communication system, researchers have great ambitions for its creation.
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In particular, they hope this technology will lead to the development of a regulator-approved device to help paralyzed people express themselves. “Our goal is to restore a complete, embodied way of communication that is the most natural way for us to speak to others. “These advances bring us much closer to a real solution for patients,” said Edward Chang, lead author of the study. Details of the research were published in an article in the journal Nature.