After a stroke – now Ann can talk again with the help of AI

After a stroke, Ann became paralyzed and at the same time lost the ability to speak. But now, 18 years later, she has again been given the opportunity to communicate with the help of artificial intelligence.

That is how it works

But how does it actually work? Well, an AI avatar is connected to the implanted head and with the help of it the artificial intelligence tries to figure out what Ann is trying to say. The technology has been able to analyze which signals Ann’s brain sends out when she tries to say a certain number of sentences and phrases. Then these signals have been combined with the sounds Ann makes and thus figured out what she is trying to say.

– It’s not flawless, it must be said, says technology expert Evelina Galli in Efter fem.

Goes faster than current technology

The researchers now believe, even though it is not completely 100%, that they are facing a “tipping point” with the technology because with the help of this it is possible to communicate much faster than the speech prosthesis technology that is used today and which is controlled with the eyes .

– From 14 words a minute, she can now say 78 words a minute, says Evelina Galli.

The average person speaks about 150 words a minute.

It is researchers from the University of California San Francisco and Berkeley who have developed the new brain computer. Edward Chang, M.D. in neurosurgery at UC San Francisco, has been working with the technology for over a decade and says in a statement that “the goal is to restore a full, embodied way of communicating.”