Yes, some companies use it in the name of the hearing aid model itself - clearly a marketing tactic - while others, like Phonak and Signia, use it but hardly mention it. Of course thy all use it differently. It’s hard to imagine that anyone isn’t using AI or some form of machine learning today.
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Well, as usual I’ll be a bummer. The senior executive of Signia talking up AI in their latest aids, signia 1X, is to be expected. Signia wants to get onto the ‘me too’ train. Everybody’s talking about AI in breathless tones. It’s the latest and greatest (mashed potato!) (oooh oooh oooh oooh…) (this being Halloween season I hope y’all will get the musical allusion.)
Fad or fallacy? Probably something in between. I watched a video review of the Signia 1x. The conclusion? Improvement in speech in noise was marginal at best.
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To be fair, in the context of AI he was talking about the future, not it’s implementation in the Signia iX, which does not currently use AI. But it does sound like their next project.
But I do agree with you, but not over cynically, that there is a mismatch between the claims and the results. Some are really happy - others not. I read a post yesterday on FB about somebody profoundly deaf saying the Oticon Xceed was awful, which shocked me as I know that aid is one of the best in dealing with severe/profound loss.
I think we don’t appreciate quite how much that the more severe the loss, the less likely all these benefits and inprovements are realised.
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I think I fell in the same category - albeit my last Oticon aid was the OPN several years ago. I think some brains are simply not capable of sorting through the sounds delivered in the Oticon algorithm. Maybe it’s a function of age or degree of loss, but my brain at 60 or so yrs old was unable to make sense of ANYONE talking around me - no matter if I was facing them. It was just a soup of noises. So I can relate to that assessment of Oticon Xceed, but totally get how MANY MANY people are very happy with them. Their brain is able to sort through all the sounds and distractions and they do great with speech comprehension.
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Yes. I remember reading your account with some interest as I can see we have a similar audiogram. It made me assume at the time that the “open” sound might be not suited to those with severe low frequency loss. But that might be a wrong assumption and it could be down to processing as you say, or another problem altogether - which they don’t yet know about!
I think the FB poster was probably more a candidate for a CI to be honest.
That’s me as well in 15 years time! Unless a miracle comes along.
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Believe me: one WILL! I am certain of these innovations. Who could’ve envisoned the BT cell phone streaming (hands-free) and other accessories of today, 15 years ago?
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Can you tell me where to find this review, Jeffrey? I’m considering the new Signia’s, so this review would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
It’s in the recent thread here called “Signia Introduces new hearing aid…etc.”
Thank you, Jeffrey. Much appreciated.
Just my opinion of course but:
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
Just another Money Grab
Think about where you see it being used.
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As a retired IT professional, I can say that AI is very real. If used correctly it is a great tool, used wrong or in a destructive way it can destroy humanity and the earth. AI in hearing aids depending on how it is used, can be a great tool to help by knowing how the hearing aid user adjusts their aids as for as volume or even different programs for different environments and to make the changes automatically without the patient needing to do so, once the AI has enough information to understand how the patient makes the changes manually.
As with the Oticon More aids, the AI is used to identify different environments by the sounds it hears and make decisions on how to proceed the sounds to the patient by adjustments done by the Gene2 software, and possibly by volume changes the patient makes for different environments. This is all a learning process and doesn’t happen overnight it takes time for data collection and analysis. But it is still just a program and only as good as the development process used to create it.
AI is here to stay and will continue to become more powerful and evasive on humanity.
I believe in the wrong hands, controlled by the wrong nations it can and will destroy this world.
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I trialled the More 1s when they were first released. The way they managed wind noise was incredible. I didn’t keep them, however, due to connectivity issues.
I love my More1 aids, and i am hoping when i get my Real1 aids later this week that they are as good as my More1 aids.
I don’t judge my aids on connectivity, i judge them on how well I hear in my environment.
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Me too. I just want to hear better.
(In two days I have a second appointment with my new hearing aid practitioner. I asked them to schedule a new Audiogram. The last one showed I hear better than some years ago! That’s a miracle! Not.
And I asked them to set them up and would they please use REM.
I bought Jabra Enhance 200 hearing aids last year, and a month ago I bought Oticon Real 1 hearing aids. The sound quality in the Oticon Reals is significantly better, especially when streaming. They do not sound tinny like the Jabras do. The Oticon Companion app works perfectly since I reinstalled it after removing the Oticon One app. When a loud vehicle passes me, the hearing aids muffle the sound within half a second. No hearing aid is going to fix what’s wrong with my broken ear, but the Oticon Real 1 has significantly improved my quality of life and hearing.
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Thanks for your post.
Real world performance is so important.
DaveL
So Oticon More aids come out in 2021 and now you’re switching to Oticon Real1 aids. So you’ve had More aids for less than two years, maybe less than 18 months - love them but throwing them out the window to purchase Oticon real aids. Must be nice to buy new aids every 18 months or so or more likely in your case just pumping Oticon aids in general.
Personally I prefer to follow posters who purchase aids for medium to long term use and don’t go shopping every other year to buy new ones. To each his own but most aid users don’t throw money at aids every two years or less in your case. Time to get real here.
Well you don’t understand my situation, I am a Veteran, I get my aids from the VA, I am a Veteran with disabilities also. My More1 aids are now my backup aids and will see weekly use. I wear my aids every waking moment of my life. So my More1 aids aren’t being discarded they are just getting some well deserved rest.
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My apologies if you’re over your 3 year waiting period for new aids. Seems math though doesn’t back up your (some what) high rate of aid turn over. Since three years has not elapsed from 2021 date the More aid came out. And everyone knows Veterans medical service (aid service) is (1) on the slow side and (2) not going to issue you new HA’s at two years or 2 and 1/2 years. Sorry don’t buy it.
In the United States, Military veterans with hearing loss are eligible for Free Hearing Aids and Services through the Veterans Health Administration, otherwise known as the VA. These veterans can typically get a new set of hearing aids every 3 years .
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It depends on disabilities, how much hearing loss changes, and to be honest the pull that the audiologist has. My disability is my hearing loss, but I have secondary issue that has been diagnosed as the result of my hearing loss, and that is my high blood pressure has been determined to be a direct result of my hearing loss and my struggle to understand speech.
I have gone as long as 5 years without getting new aids and I have gone as short as 18 months then got new ones. I have used 5 clinics for my hearing loss in 2 different states but in the same VA benefits regions. I have been getting aids from the VA since 2004, and have been wearing aids since 2000. My Navy medical records show that I have had hearing loss since 1972, and that I have had blood pressure issues since 1974, none of this was ever told to me while I was in the Navy or even at the time I was discharged. At this time I have a combined claim open about my hearing loss and the effect it has on my blood pressure. I have written testimony form three different audiologists and 5 different doctors. And now with my medical records finally found and recorded in my VA records, the benefits board is still dragging its feet.
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