Speech And GPT-3 As An Predictor Of Early Alzheimer’s Disease

Quick, simple and non-invasive, the implications are significant.

Voice analysis technology has been studied as a potential screening tool for dementia. The use digitally record audio of neuropsychological examinations have been used to screen for dementia from a cohort of participants from the well-knows Framingham Heart Study. The authors concluded:

This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that automated deep learning-driven processing of audio recordings of neuropsychological testing performed on individuals recruited within a community cohort setting can facilitate dementia screening.

But there’s something else on the forefront of research that my offer an new screen or even diagnostic tool for assessing cognitive function—it’s voice analysis with GPT. New data suggested that this might be the case. Using speech recordings of picture descriptions produced by cognitively normal subjects and patients with an AD diagnosis, authors investigated the utility of GPT-3 voice analysis in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

We show in this study that GPT-3, a specific language model produced by OpenAI, could be a step towards early prediction of AD through speech. Specifically, we demonstrate that text embedding, powered by GPT-3, can be reliably used to (1) distinguish individuals with AD from healthy controls, and (2) infer the subject’s cognitive testing score, both solely based on speech data.

Voice was converted to text using established methodologies and processed with the OpenAI platform. Based on the “learning data set” of patients with and without Alzheimer’s disease, the algorithm was able to reliable detect the cognitive function and disease. The authors didn’t mince their word in their conclusion.

Our results suggest that there is a huge potential to develop and translate a fully deployable AI-driven tools for early diagnosis of dementia and direct tailored interventions to individual needs, thereby improving quality of life for individuals with dementia.

It’s been suggested that voice might be the next vital sign. And as technology advances, it seems possible that voice can be the template that will be interrogated by innovations such as GPT-3 to advance clinical assessments. Beyond the technology, the application of voice as a simple and inexpensive screening tool can help drive earlier diagnosis and optimize clinical planning and therapy.