STROKE VICTIMS SPEAK AGAIN - THROUGH AI

IN A major breakthrough, a stroke survivor who hadn't spoken in 18 years was able to talk again, thanks to an AI-powered device that can translate thoughts into spoken words in real time.

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Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley developed the device, which they implanted into the brain of Ann Johnson, a 47-year-old woman with quadriplegia who hadn't been able to speak since suffering a stroke.

The AI-powered device "converts her intent to speak into fluent sentences," explains University of California Berkeley's Gopala Anumanchipalli. Current brain-computer interfaces for speech often have a lag time between when a subject attempts to speak and when sound is produced, which can disrupt the flow of conversations, causing frustration.