How AI Is Capable of Giving a Voice to Those Without One (and Why It’s a Game-Changer)

Among the many potential applications for AI, few are more exciting than its potential for giving a voice to those who don’t have one. Representation and expression and the ability to communicate one’s wants and needs are crucial for many groups. With AI, many groups have ways to gain a voice in ways that previously were not possible.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Tim Maliyil, co-founder of PerkyPet, and Dr. Dara Huang, the company’s co-founder and a Brown University educated physician. PerkyPet is an AI-powered tool designed to improve pet health by bridging communication gaps between pets and pet parents. As Maliyil and Dr. Huang’s insights reveal, AI offers several valuable solutions in giving a voice.

Learning From Physical and Behavioral Clues

PerkyPet’s AI-powered tool doesn’t attempt to do anything so outlandish as translate pet sounds into human speech. However, it does provide a solution that essentially facilitates communication between pet parents and their pets.

“AI can help analyze and learn from the physical and behavioral cues offered by a pet,” Dr. Huang explains. “These are important clues to a cat or dog’s overall health and well-being, as AI can detect changes quickly and then advise pet parents on actions they should take. This has the potential to assist with everything from matching a pet’s dietary needs with the right food products to identifying symptoms of disease and other health issues before they develop into a medical emergency.”

By evaluating data such as the pet’s environment, health history, diet and any situations that could be causing stress for the pet and its pet parents, the AI offers personalized recommendations based on the specific medical needs of each pet.

“In this instance, AI can complement the knowledge of veterinarians to help pet parents with their daily decision making so they can be more attentive to their pets’ needs and help them live happier, healthier lives,” Maliyil says. “The pets may not be literally speaking to their pet parents through the AI, but the AI ensures that their needs are understood and addressed appropriately.”

Speech Recognition and Generation

In some cases, AI is literally giving a voice to the voiceless. A recent clinical trial saw a surgical team implant small devices onto the brain of an ALS patient who had lost his ability to speak. These devices were able to decode the patient’s thoughts and turn them into sentences and phrases, which were broadcast by a computer. Even more impressive, the researchers used AI to replicate the patient’s voice from before the ALS diagnosis.

Similar research has also been conducted using AI wearables that learned from healthy subjects who would say key phrases out loud, and then repeat the same phrase silently. This research was focused on developing AI tools to help individuals with damaged vocal cords, with the AI learning from the muscle movements of study participants to learn to produce speech with over 94% accuracy.

“For people who have lost the ability to speak because of disease or an accident, these types of AI applications are a literal game changer,” Dr. Huang says. “The principle is similar to how Google’s DeepMind AI was able to train on TV to become proficient at lipreading, which can help individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. Regaining the ability to communicate vocally can have a powerful impact on a person’s social and emotional well-being and greatly improve their quality of life.”

Though research and testing on these types of AI applications are still in their early stages, they represent perhaps some of the biggest leaps forward in terms of AI’s potential impact in the medical field.

Translation Opportunities

Another exciting area where AI is poised to give a voice to more groups is in the realm of translation. For example, in the live events space, 94% of event planning professionals say they would consider using AI for live translation. This is poised to make more events more accessible to a broader range of communities than ever before. Previously, live translation was often limited in scope, as it was dependent on hiring in-person translators.

Whether providing workforce training or trying to make entertainment more accessible, many organizations previously lacked the budget or capabilities to translate speech into other languages. As AI becomes increasingly capable, it can help bring global teams and audiences together like never before, which can create new opportunities for employees in a globalized work environment.

Maliyil also sees AI-assisted speech translation as a powerful asset for communities as a whole. “AI-powered speech translation can help break down language barriers for non-native speakers, making it easier for them to gain access to essential services or to form connections with others beyond their community. This can be especially powerful in diverse communities, where the ability to communicate with each other more easily can create a more unified and supportive environment.”

Enhancing Communication

As Maliyil’s examples reveal, AI can be a true game-changer in giving a voice to different communities — and even animals. Whether providing a literal voice or helping different groups understand each other better, the potential offered by machine learning and AI seems truly limitless. As advocacy and technology combine, AI can play a key role in creating new opportunities for those without a voice, leading to increased quality of life and better outcomes for all.

The post How AI Is Capable of Giving a Voice to Those Without One (and Why It’s a Game-Changer) appeared first on ReadWrite.