The Collaboration between Hearing Aid Users and Artificial Intelligence to Optimize Sound

Abstract

Hearing aid gain and signal processing are based on assumptions about the average user in the average listening environment, but problems may arise when the individual hearing aid user differs from these assumptions in general or specific ways. This article describes how an artificial intelligence (AI) mechanism that operates continuously on input from the user may alleviate such problems by using a type of machine learning known as Bayesian optimization. The basic AI mechanism is described, and studies showing its effects both in the laboratory and in the field are summarized. A crucial fact about the use of this AI is that it generates large amounts of user data that serve as input for scientific understanding as well as for the development of hearing aids and hearing care. Analyses of users' listening environments based on these data show the distribution of activities and intentions in situations where hearing is challenging. Finally, this article demonstrates how further AI-based analyses of the data can drive development.