A blind man is using artificial intelligence (AI) to navigate around Tokyo, at a recent Para eSports meet-up. The 26-year-old, Mashiro, is often reliant on a companion to help him around, but he hopes that AI can help him to travel alone.
Mashiro used the latest version of AI chatbot ChatGPT to get to the event. As he went, he spoke to ChatGPT using his stick with a small monkey mascot attached to one ear, so he could hear the responses through the earpiece in one ear, leaving the other side of his ear free to listen out for cars. He asked the bot for basic directions, and then asked what he could do for blind people. The bot told him that he could expect an increase in crowd noise and the sound of activities as he got closer, which Mashiro was warned about.
The journey took Mashiro around four times as long as for sighted people, and he had to repeatedly turn back and ask for help from his friend, who is partially sighted, to finish the journey. Mashiro expressed his gratitude for the help of his friend, and he is hopeful that AI can help him to live more independently in the future.
While the current AI chatbot is not perfect, it is able to provide basic support and guidance, and it can be a useful tool for people with disabilities. As more AI models are developed, the technology can only improve and become more useful for a wide range of applications.