Can hearing be improved with AI?

Can hearing be improved with AI? The people at Doppler Labs seem to think so with their new ear buds called Here One. While they might look like any other Bluetooth earbuds, their true purpose is AI enhanced human hearing, writes Robby Berman for BigThink. The company claims their ear buds will be able to mix ambient audio with music without a delay, something which had riddled previous attempts at the idea. The buds can identify people, in the same fashion Siri does, and allow you to do things like increase the volume of a baby’s crying amidst background noise in the house, reduce background noise or mute it all together. Because babies’ voices are so unpredictable and unique, the company essentially crowdsources its detection algorithms, cofounder Fitz Lanman tells Quartz. The product is an example of the kind of personalized, technology-based human enhancements we’re likely to see much more of, says Berman. While the benefits of such a device could be great in reducing hearing loss, we’re reminded of a certain episode of Black Mirror.