Using several electrodes connected to the brain tissue, the woman was able to speak through the digital avatar again.
A 47-year-old woman named Ann was able to speak again thanks to the efforts of artificial intelligence.
Ann, who suffered a stroke a few years ago, has not been able to speak for 18 years. However, using several electrodes connected to her brain tissue, the woman was able to speak through the digital avatar again.
The scientists attached 253 electrodes to Ann’s brain, above a critical area for speech. The electrodes then intercepted brain signals that would normally have controlled the muscles in her jaw, tongue, larynx and face had she not had a stroke.
After deploying the AI brain implant, Ann worked with researchers to train the AI system’s algorithm to detect the brain signals it receives, including unique signals that help create different speech sounds.
The computer recognized 39 distinctive sounds, which were then used with a ChatGPT-style language model to translate into a sentence.
The researchers used sounds and signals to control a digital avatar with a personalized voice that sounded like Ann’s voice before her injury.
The technology isn’t perfect, but it has had some success: only 28 percent of words were misdecoded in a test of more than 500 sentences.
The AI brain implant can also translate brains to text at about 78 words per minute. This is slightly slower than the typical 110-150 words per minute spoken in natural conversation.
Despite the shortcomings, the researchers believe that recent advances in speed, accuracy, and sophistication will only help improve this technology in the future, helping more people like Ann speak up again.
