Researchers Hope Voice Assistants Can Spot Signs of Dementia – Associated Press

Read article - Quotes John Batsis, associate professor of medicine and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, who is a member of a team of researchers from Dartmouth-Hitchcock and the University of Massachusetts Boston who have received a four-year $1.2 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to develop a system that would use machine and deep learning techniques to detect changes in speech patterns to determine if someone is a risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer's. "Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are a major public health concern that lead to high health costs, risk of nursing home placement, and place an inordinate burden on the whole family," Batsis said. "The ability to plan in the early stages of the disease is essential for initiating interventions and providing support systems to improve patients' everyday function and quality of life."