Artificial Intelligence for Disabled People: Making A Difference

AI enables people with disabilities to step into a world where their difficulties are understood and taken into account. It has the potential to automate tasks that typically require human intelligence.

These include speech and voice recognition, visual perception, predictive text functionality, decision-making, and performance of various other tasks. In this way, it can help individuals with disabilities to get around and take part in the activities of daily living.

How AI Impacts the Life of Differently Abled

Here are some ways in which Artificial Intelligence for disabled people makes a difference:

Communication and Connectivity

AI-voice-assisted technologies, like Echo, Google Home, and Alexa, have created new means of accessibility for disabled people. Their use enables individuals with disabilities to access information more easily – all just by speaking to their devices.

For visually impaired students, AI-based tools like Voiceover in iOS and Talkback help to pronounce emails and messages received on mobile phones. It also helps to describe app icons, battery levels, and even partial photos.

Siri on iPhones enables voice control that allows visually impaired students to verbalize their requests, such as conducting a Google search, writing an article, or dictating a text message to a buddy.

Cortana also helps them to use computers through voice search. Google Assistant helps navigate smartphones through voice control.

For students who have hearing disabilities, Ava is an instant transcription tool that employs artificial intelligence to instantly transcribe a group of people’s discussion. Its algorithm incorporates punctuation, the speaker’s name, and relevant words from the user’s dictionary.

RogerVoice is a French group discussion transcription tool that performs similar functions to Ava and is accessible in 90 languages.

Independent In-home Living

Smart home technology is another aspect of artificial intelligence for the disabled that can be a great benefit for those with limited mobility. Through simple voice commands, they can communicate what they need and request the information they are seeking.

They can control nearly every aspect of their home from switching on/off lights, adjusting the temperature to turning off the stove, and playing music. AI-assisted smart home technology can be very helpful for people living with disabilities, assist them in moving around the home, and support more independent living.

Accessibility (Physical & Virtual)

People with disabilities have the same right to access facilities as any normal people do, and AI for disabled people can empower those living with limited physical mobility in various ways.

AI-powered self-driving cars and other forms of autonomous transportation promise incredible freedom of mobility for house-bound individuals with disabilities. The autonomous vehicles being developed by Waymo, Uber, Lyft, etc., could eliminate physical isolation for such people and promote a more social lifestyle.

AI-powered solutions stand to make a real difference for people with disabilities, supporting them in activities of daily living and enabling them to gain new skills. They are helping disabled people by opening up new opportunities for accessibility, inclusion in society, and independent living that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to achieve

Besides this, differently-abled people also face difficulties in accessing and navigating the internet. To combat this, AI for disabled people is being used in various ways. For example, CAPTCHAs can be replaced by facial recognition technology, people with speech problems can access the Internet via sounds and gestures, and real-time captions and translations of online videos can be provided to help those with impairments.

Getting Around

Mobility proves to be one of the most challenging issues to overcome for differently abled people. Navigation apps centered on AI for disabled people can solve this problem. It can help differently abled people gain more autonomy and more spontaneity when they’re getting around.

Some of the popular navigation apps powered by AI are:

Google Maps: It helps disabled people who use wheelchairs and those who are visually impaired for planning their trips. The app helps them visualize their route and the best means of transportation to use according to their profile. Through the ‘wheelchair’ option, they can know where ramps and elevators are located in the city. Also, ‘accessible places’ options enable them to have more information about the layout of many premises like entrances, parking spots, restrooms, seating arrangements, etc.

Moovit: It is powered by voice technology and provides real-time traffic information. The app turns out to be helpful for people with a visual impairment when voice announcements aren’t activated on the bus.

Wheelmap: It lists and maps all accessible public venues (restaurants, shops, cafés, etc). Even users can add data and information concerning the accessibility level of places.

Soundscape: It is an app that describes the surroundings to blind people with audio 3D technology. They can easily be aware of the points of interest near them and the intersections.

Healthcare

AI for disabled people is also impacting the healthcare sector for the differently abled. AI-powered solutions assist medical practitioners with robot-assisted technology for more accuracy during surgery or data collecting to deliver a more precise diagnosis.

However, for those with impairments, this can represent a significant step forward in offering a higher quality of life. The most remarkable example is the development of an AI-powered exoskeleton that allows paraplegic persons to use their legs once more to stand up and walk again.

Challenges in Employing AI for Disabled People

Although AI is making an impact and bringing a change in the lives of so many differently-abled individuals, there are some challenges to employing AI for disabled persons. Below are some of them:

Bias and Discrimination

AI systems are only as unbiased as the data they are trained on. If the data used to train AI systems contains biases, the systems themselves can perpetuate those biases, leading to discriminatory outcomes for disabled people.

Job Displacement

The use of AI in the workforce has the potential to displace disabled workers, who may have difficulty competing with AI-powered systems for employment opportunities.

Lack of Accessibility

While AI has the potential to improve accessibility for disabled people, there is also a risk that AI systems themselves may not be accessible to people with disabilities. For example, AI systems that rely on visual interfaces may not be usable by visually impaired people.

Privacy Concerns

People with disabilities may be more vulnerable to privacy violations when using AI systems, as these systems may collect and use sensitive personal information.

Dependence

People with disabilities may become dependent on AI systems for essential tasks, which could put them at risk if those systems fail or malfunction.

End Note

Unfortunately, people with disabilities have a tough time in the real world. They face trouble communicating, moving, browsing, and even doing everyday tasks. Most of the time, they are homebound, depending on others for food, clothing, outing, and living.

AI-powered solutions like self-driving cars and navigation apps can help the differently abled with their needs. They can provide them with the freedom of movement and accessibility they desire.

AI-enabled voice assistants can help them communicate with others and obtain whatever information they want. Smart homes can enable them to survive independently, controlling most of their home with simple commands.

However, there are concerns linked to the use of AI solutions by and for disabled people. The most important is the risk associated with the failure of AI systems on which these people depend.

Yet, the positivity it can bring to the lives of disabled people is much greater. So, AI for disabled people will do more good than harm to these people in the future.

If you have any AI and machine learning development needs, our experts at Anubrain can help you. Drop us a line at connect@anubrain.com, and we will get back to you soon!