AI and the 'cocktail party problem'

The human ear can naturally filter out background noise. Now technology has been developed to do the same

Floating speech bubbles
(Image credit: Melpomenem / Getty Images)

People struggling to follow a conversation in noisy situations could soon be helped by artificial intelligence after a technological breakthrough that claimed to have solved the "cocktail party problem".

The phenomenon describes how people can filter out background noises, such as the chatter of a party, to focus on one particular sound or speaker. Scientists have long puzzled over how the human brain is able to do this, leading Tech Crunch to call it "one of the greatest barriers to voice technologies reaching a level of understanding comparable to humans".

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Elizabeth Carr-Ellis is a freelance journalist and was previously the UK website's Production Editor. She has also held senior roles at The Scotsman, Sunday Herald and Hello!. As well as her writing, she is the creator and co-founder of the Pausitivity #KnowYourMenopause campaign and has appeared on national and international media discussing women's healthcare.