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Also do we really want to be wearing hearing devices as “enhancement” tools all the time? I bet this would destroy our natural ability to do what these headphones are doing. Removing any type of selective hearing that our brains do automatically. Yes some people I assume would benefit from this, but I feel this is yet another poor choice to make AI “work” for us when our brain does it already. AI engineers trying really hard to make the systems for cybernetic human beings I guess.
Glasses are not the same thing at all. They sit on your face and your eyes still process everything before them, the images/items that matter as well as the things that have no importance to our direct world around us. They essentially fix a small physical portion of our eyes (the cornea/lens) and refocus light rays for your particular eyeball situation, your eyes are still fully processing the images it sees. Now if there were some sort of AI glasses tool that blocks out everything but the thing that it deems “useful and pertinent” then it would be similar and equally a problem, the very problem these headphones highlight. The human brain is very powerful at ignoring things, arguably some people’s brains may be less effective at this, which is where I can see these headphones could be useful. But for an everyday use case for most people, that’s greyer territory and I hypothesize that it would degrade the brain’s natural ability to filter out unwanted or unimportant sounds, so much so that once conditioned with these headphones, without them, the world will be a loud obtrusive mess of sound. These earphones are nothing like glasses.
I meant it as an analogy. If you want a different one, try a wheelchair. These things are useful for people with specific issues, someone that doesn't have those wouldn't need them.
This is great until the tech is bought by Google and is then used to spy on everyone's conversations worldwide. When will real tech regulations ever get here so we can truly enjoy our technology without being constantly horrified about what is going on behind the scenes?
Oh so Google doesn’t thing you said they would do in the hypothetical situation in which they purchase the company that doesn’t exist yet based on this research project?
You're missing my point. I said I can't wait for tech regulations, so I can enjoy our technology without fear of what is going on behind the scenes. I didn't mean that Google was necessarily destined to buy this.
Google has consistently been one of the worst personal data harvesters among the big tech companies and they regularly acquire companies that give them new vectors of user information (for example when they bought Nest, wich in turn aquired Dropcam and Revolv and all of their sensor and users home routine data, giving the company new views into users homes that didn't rely on their online or phone use). Edit: was Amazon that bought Ring, I misremembered. Nabu Casa is not owned by Google, props to u/fox-mcleod.
Google also have been proven in court to have lied or settled cases against them about respecting users privacy (for example when they kept harvesting user browsing data in "incognito mode" or tracking location data even when location history was disabled by the user)
Yeah, I think it's a symptom of ADHD or some other mental issue. If I'm in a crowded or noisy place, it's extremely difficult for me to focus on the conversation happening in front of me.
I have a completely unfounded theory that ADHD is an evolutionarily beneficial trait that is just not well suited for modern day cultures and interaction formats.
It's easy to see how getting really easily distracted by things going on in the background rather than being able to tune everything else out to focus on a conversation would help you avoid being eaten by prey or ambushed by assailants.
Additionally, from anecdotal evidence, I feel like I see a lot of highly functional neurodivergent folks who are extremely competitive in high speed sports; ones which require rapid reflexes, pushing past physical limitations, and only require marginal attention and focus to improve.
I've coached a lot of great athletes who I repeatedly need to regain their attention.
Ive had some luck using noise cancelling headphones or concert earplugs as they can reduce background noise but same, I feel guilty about not talking much during large outings cause genuinely I stop being able to follow conversations
I could see this being really useful for deaf people and those with auditory processing disorders, this is the kind of AI we should actually be working on instead of the kind that drains a lake for a picture of an anime girl
There are people with disabilities that would benefit from this technology. My noise canceling headphones have a setting to enhance speech while blocking background noise. The tech being studied here would help individuals interact with people in loud environments without them getting overwhelmed by the noise.
I am one of those people. I have ME/CFS which causes brain fog and debilitating fatigue. The difference between socialising in a quiet environment and socialising in a noisy environment is night and day; the cognitive load of filtering out all the other conversations - something I never noticed when I was well - is immense and I often have to cut social engagements short because of this or simply can't attend because of the fatigue caused by trying to cope with noise. This technology could really help me
Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.
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Sounds cool in theory, I'm skeptical it would actually work consistently though.
Also do we really want to be wearing hearing devices as “enhancement” tools all the time? I bet this would destroy our natural ability to do what these headphones are doing. Removing any type of selective hearing that our brains do automatically. Yes some people I assume would benefit from this, but I feel this is yet another poor choice to make AI “work” for us when our brain does it already. AI engineers trying really hard to make the systems for cybernetic human beings I guess.
Yeah and if your eyesight is bad don't use glasses or it'll... get worse?
Glasses are not the same thing at all. They sit on your face and your eyes still process everything before them, the images/items that matter as well as the things that have no importance to our direct world around us. They essentially fix a small physical portion of our eyes (the cornea/lens) and refocus light rays for your particular eyeball situation, your eyes are still fully processing the images it sees. Now if there were some sort of AI glasses tool that blocks out everything but the thing that it deems “useful and pertinent” then it would be similar and equally a problem, the very problem these headphones highlight. The human brain is very powerful at ignoring things, arguably some people’s brains may be less effective at this, which is where I can see these headphones could be useful. But for an everyday use case for most people, that’s greyer territory and I hypothesize that it would degrade the brain’s natural ability to filter out unwanted or unimportant sounds, so much so that once conditioned with these headphones, without them, the world will be a loud obtrusive mess of sound. These earphones are nothing like glasses.
Lotta words to say “I don’t understand that people with disabilities exist”
I meant it as an analogy. If you want a different one, try a wheelchair. These things are useful for people with specific issues, someone that doesn't have those wouldn't need them.
Why not?
Current microphones can already detect direction of motion, then it's a matter of detecting voice timbre.
It's far more complicated than that. It's an active area of research.
This is great until the tech is bought by Google and is then used to spy on everyone's conversations worldwide. When will real tech regulations ever get here so we can truly enjoy our technology without being constantly horrified about what is going on behind the scenes?
Regulations would already make that illegal. Your level of horror apparently is not affected by what the regulations actually are.
Right. That explains why Google has done this very thing repeatedly and gets away with it repeatedly.
Oh so Google doesn’t thing you said they would do in the hypothetical situation in which they purchase the company that doesn’t exist yet based on this research project?
You're missing my point. I said I can't wait for tech regulations, so I can enjoy our technology without fear of what is going on behind the scenes. I didn't mean that Google was necessarily destined to buy this.
Maybe you should not make claims unsupported by evidence, in a science sub.
Google has consistently been one of the worst personal data harvesters among the big tech companies and they regularly acquire companies that give them new vectors of user information (for example when they bought Nest, wich in turn aquired Dropcam and Revolv and all of their sensor and users home routine data, giving the company new views into users homes that didn't rely on their online or phone use). Edit: was Amazon that bought Ring, I misremembered. Nabu Casa is not owned by Google, props to u/fox-mcleod.
Google also have been proven in court to have lied or settled cases against them about respecting users privacy (for example when they kept harvesting user browsing data in "incognito mode" or tracking location data even when location history was disabled by the user)
Google has never owned ring nor Nabu Casa.
Exactly. I thought this was common knowledge.
I would pay a lot for this. I can never hear anyone in a crowd.
Yeah, I think it's a symptom of ADHD or some other mental issue. If I'm in a crowded or noisy place, it's extremely difficult for me to focus on the conversation happening in front of me.
I have a completely unfounded theory that ADHD is an evolutionarily beneficial trait that is just not well suited for modern day cultures and interaction formats.
It's easy to see how getting really easily distracted by things going on in the background rather than being able to tune everything else out to focus on a conversation would help you avoid being eaten by prey or ambushed by assailants.
Additionally, from anecdotal evidence, I feel like I see a lot of highly functional neurodivergent folks who are extremely competitive in high speed sports; ones which require rapid reflexes, pushing past physical limitations, and only require marginal attention and focus to improve.
I've coached a lot of great athletes who I repeatedly need to regain their attention.
I would die regardless of my environment due to ADHD induced negligence.
This could be very helpful with tinnitus sufferers (like me.)
(based on other comments) wait so you're telling me this is an adhd/autism thing? I thought it was just my hearing loss.
I don't enjoy talking in restaurant settings in large groups precisely because of this
Ive had some luck using noise cancelling headphones or concert earplugs as they can reduce background noise but same, I feel guilty about not talking much during large outings cause genuinely I stop being able to follow conversations
Peer-reviewed research: https://aclanthology.org/2025.emnlp-main.1289/
Can it also block out one person? Because that would be very handy as well. Also very funny.
I’ve just given them an idea.
I could see this being really useful for deaf people and those with auditory processing disorders, this is the kind of AI we should actually be working on instead of the kind that drains a lake for a picture of an anime girl
Honestly, a life saver for anyone with APD.
One step closer to Babel fish
For ones im all in for the use of aj
AJ!! Get in here!
Our brains do this already.
Let's improve our abilities with practice instead of offloading life skills to computers.
There are people with disabilities that would benefit from this technology. My noise canceling headphones have a setting to enhance speech while blocking background noise. The tech being studied here would help individuals interact with people in loud environments without them getting overwhelmed by the noise.
I am one of those people. I have ME/CFS which causes brain fog and debilitating fatigue. The difference between socialising in a quiet environment and socialising in a noisy environment is night and day; the cognitive load of filtering out all the other conversations - something I never noticed when I was well - is immense and I often have to cut social engagements short because of this or simply can't attend because of the fatigue caused by trying to cope with noise. This technology could really help me
Sure, as medical tech it's cool and useful, I would never disagree.
Then why did you assume that this tech is to "offload life skills" first?
Many people with autism or ADHD can not do that. Or, at least, can not do that to the extent than most other people can.
Also, real time subtitles for day-to-day conversations would be great.
Telling that to someone with ADHD (like myself) would be like telling someone who is missing their right arm to write a letter with their right hand.