AI Hearing Aids Explained: How Today’s Devices Think, Learn, and Adapt

Your hearing aids aren’t just getting louder anymore, they’re getting smarter. We sit down with Dr. Jill Copley to unpack what “AI hearing aids” actually means and how modern devices use machine learning to make fast decisions about speech, background noise, music, and TV without you constantly pushing buttons.

We walk through how manufacturers build these features using large collections of real-world sound samples and deep neural networks that learn what “good” hearing should sound like across different environments. Then we get practical: how apps on your smartphone let you pick what sounds better, A or B, and how those choices help your hearing aids learn your listening preferences over time. We also explain how we can review environment data during programming visits, and why consent matters if any data is shared back to improve future AI models.

Restaurants get their own spotlight because they’re still the toughest test for speech in noise. We talk about why one person might want more awareness while another wants less noise, plus how newer hearing technology uses sensors and head movement to support better focus. We wrap with what’s next in hearing healthcare, including AI-powered auditory training with familiar voices, early ideas around EEG and eye tracking, and even dual AI systems designed to handle speech and background noise separately.

If you care about better hearing, smarter noise reduction, and what’s coming next in audiology, hit play, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave us a review. What situation do you most want your hearing aids to handle better?

To learn more about Total Hearing Care visit:
https://www.TotalHearingCare.com

Total Hearing Care
Multiple Locations Across the DFW Metroplex
(469) 809-4487

Transcript

Welcome And What We Cover

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Total Hearing Care Difference, where we help you experience life through better hearing. Hosted by the experts at Total Hearing Care, a leading private audiology practice serving the DFW Metroplex, we are here to provide guidance on hearing loss, tinnitus, and the latest advancements in audiology. Transform your life through better hearing. Let's get started.

How AI Makes Hearing Aids Smart

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Hearing aids are no longer just amplifiers, they're smart devices capable of analyzing environments, reducing noise, and personalizing sound in real time. Today we explore how that intelligence actually works. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Sophia Yvette, co-host and producer, back in the studio with Dr. Joe Copley. Dr. Copley, how's it going today?

SPEAKER_02 0:52

It's going really well, and um I can't wait to get into this topic. It's it's a fun one.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Oh, yes, and I'm excited to jump right in with you. So, Dr. Copley, how is AI being incorporated into modern hearing aids and what does that mean for patients?

SPEAKER_02 1:12

So that is a very um complex topic, and I'm going to try to just um simplify how AI is working in hearing instruments today. One of the main things that manufacturers are doing now is they take lots of sound samples, whether that's um people talking or just environmental sounds, and they put it through an AI generator. And what that does is the AI takes all this information, puts it together, analyzes it, and then will tell the hearing aid this is the best way we should adapt or adjust when we're in a particular kind of environment, such as noise or music or just watching TV.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Wow. Now is that true when it comes to speech as well and not just background noise?

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Correct. So a lot of I I read an article and they put it this way um pretend you're an artist and you give, you tell artists, like three artists, to paint a particular landscape, and each one of them might paint it differently. And so that's how the manufacturers work. They're all trying to help you hear speech over background noise, but they all do it a little bit differently. So some manufacturers may focus on their AI on um understanding speech over noise, and some may focus on turning down the noise. So the effect is the same ultimately, but they they all kind of use the AI a little bit differently.

Learning Your Preferences With Apps

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Now, can you get into explaining how AI learns a patient's listening preferences over time?

SPEAKER_02 3:09

So um typically one of the ways that um AI helps with hearing instruments is helps it helps it adapt. So hopefully the patient is not having to do the adaptation themselves. But some of the manufacturers through an app on your phone, on a smartphone, has to be a smartphone, um, can choose things. They may be in an environment and they can pull up their app and go, okay, what sounds better, A or B? What sounds better, A or B, you know, depending on the environment. And that way, um, the doing that by the phone, the hearing aids can um program into themselves. So when they're in that environment again, the hearing aids will adapt to that new that environment because it was similar to what the patient did when they were arranging, I'm sorry, when they were actually focused on that environment and trying to change it to make themselves hear better. The other thing, well, the other thing that can do is for some of these manufacturers, we can see that data when we program the hearing aids. And so we can see what kind of environments they've been in, we can see how often they're in those environments, and we can see how they are trying to adapt their hearing aids to those environments. And then our software uses that data and recommends changes that we could make to make it better for the patient. So it kind of goes on both sides.

Restaurants, Sensors, And Real Limits

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Wow, that's a great overview when it comes to generalized environments, but what about the more challenging ones like restaurants?

SPEAKER_02 5:00

So the more challenging ones are still challenging. Um, I again read an article thinking about if you have two people in a busy restaurant, but one's the waiter and one's um a patron, they're going to need different things. Um, the the waiter is going to have to hear more. Um, he doesn't want the noise turned down as much because he needs to hear what people are saying. He needs to hear people getting his attention, or somebody just sitting there would like the noise turned down. And so the hearing instruments can take all of that data. Now, these are learned processes. So, for the most part, the hearing aids are not collecting this data real time. As I mentioned at the beginning, the manufacturers are taking all of this data with all these sounds and putting it together and adjusting. But what new hearing instruments can do, some of the manufacturers put sensors in them. So they can look at how a person's turning their head like this, up and down and around, and they will adjust for speech and background noise that way. So that helps.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

So that is information that you're saying that already comes from the manufacturers, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:35

Um yes. So that's what they're um that's what they're doing. And um, it's called a deep neural network. So they're taking all this data and AI puts it all together and determines the best settings you should be in, um, depending on the environment. And I've always told patients that probably the hearing aids will do that really well about 80% of the time, and the other 20% will still be difficult. But one of the things that can happen is the hearing instruments can collect that data, and that data can be sent back to the manufacturer. Now we have to have consent from the patient to do that, so that's not automatic. But what the manufacturers do is they look at that data, they look where patients, you know, environments they were in, they looked at how patients change things, they look at how we change things for the patient, and they continue to apply that data to the AI to make it um make the adaptations better.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

Wow.

Training Tools And Future Signals

SPEAKER_01 7:38

So, Dr. Copley, are there any other recent applications of AI you would like to tell our listeners about today?

SPEAKER_02 7:45

So the sensors are one of them. Um, that's been um a great addition. Um, one of the other things I've liked, and I think is going to come into hearing aids more, is one of the um oral rehab or what we call lace, and that is a computer um program app kind of game to help you learn to hear better in background noise. And what you can do is it works by AI, but you can actually record a person's voice. So let's say your spouse is one of the hardest people to hear, you can record their voice. And so instead of the AI talking during those exercises, it will use a familiar voice. And I think hearing instruments are going to come along and do that as well, um, where you can actually record a voice and it will um the AI will adjust based on that person's voice a lot more easily. Um, I think the other thing they're really talking about is trying to incorporate um brain processing through like EEG. Um look at uh how the eyes are moving because yes, you move your head, but when you're in a conversation, you also move your eyes. And so those kinds of things. I don't know how close we are to that, but those are some things I've I've read that are that are possibilities.

Two AI Systems And More Control

SPEAKER_01 9:16

So, Dr. Copley, before we close out today, are there any other advancements that you see AI continuing to develop and evolve in hearing healthcare as the years go on?

SPEAKER_02 9:31

So um there's probably a couple of things um that I know of. One of the manufacturers is now looking at putting two AI systems in their hearing aids, one for speech and one for background noise. So before the AI would kind of focus on one or the other, it's more complicated than that, but that's the way I think of it. It's kind of one or the other. And now the hearing aid from this particular manufacturer is putting in two of them. And I think other manufacturers will follow that. The other thing, it's going to make it easier for patients to adapt. I think there's going to be more where the patient can adjust their hearing aids and the hearing aids will learn more quickly. And it won't necessarily have to flow through the audiologist. Um, the patient will be able to do it themselves. And I think that is probably going to come pretty soon. I mean, it's already somewhat there, but I think it's it's going to be a lot easier for patients using their smartphones.

Key Takeaways And How To Book

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Wow. We've covered some great things in this episode today. Thank you, Dr. Copley, for breaking down how AI is transforming hearing a technology. We appreciate your insights, and we'll see everyone back here next time.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Thank you for listening to the Total Hearing Care Difference. If you're in the DFW Metroplex and ready to take the next step toward better hearing, call 469-809-4487 to book an appointment. Or visit totalhearing care dot com because when you hear better, you live better. See you next time.