When it comes to emerging technology, there’s no hotter topic than artificial intelligence. Programs like ChatGPT and Midjourney are becoming more popular and are inspiring people to explore the possibilities of what AI can achieve — including when it comes to accessible technology for people who are blind or visually impaired.

One of those people is Saqib Shaikh, an engineering manager at Microsoft. Saqib leads the team that developed an app called Seeing AI, which utilizes the latest generation of artificial intelligence, known as generative AI Dr. Cal spoke with Saqib about how Generative AI works, his firsthand experience using an app like Seeing AI, and how it helped improve his daily life.

This episode also features Alice Massa, an occupational therapist at Lighthouse Guild. Alice described the many benefits of generative AI, and how it helps her clients better engage in their world.

Saqib and Alice also both agreed that the current state of AI is only the beginning of its potential. They shared their visions of what it could achieve in the future — and it doesn’t seem that far off.

The Big Takeaways:

• The Power of Generative AI: Saqib discussed the present condition of artificial intelligence and why generative AI is a massive leap from what came before it. With a deep data pool to draw from, generative AI can do so much more than identify items or come up with an essay prompt. It can understand and interpret the world with startling depth and expediency.

• Seeing AI: This app can truly put the world in the palm of your hand. It can perform essential tasks like reading a prescription or the sign at a bus stop — and even more than that! It can describe all the colorful details of sea life in a fish tank at the aquarium or help you order dinner off a menu. The app doesn’t just provide people who are blind or visually impaired greater access to the world — it expands it.

• Embrace Change: There’s understandably a lot of uncertainty about what role AI should play in society. However, Saqib Shaikh and Alice Massa insist that there’s nothing to fear from AI, that the benefits far outweigh any potential drawbacks, and that as long as it’s handled responsibly, there’s a lot AI can do to help improve our lives.

Tweetables:

• “I had a client at the Lighthouse who really was very disinterested in doing anything. The only thing he did on his phone was answer a call from his pastor and call his pastor. And I was able to put Seeing AI on his phone. And his wife said the first time in two years, she saw a smile on his face because now he could read his Bible by himself.” — Alice Massa, Occupational Therapist at Lighthouse Guild
• “What if AI could understand you as a human? What are your capabilities? What are your limitations at any moment in time? Whether that's due to a disability or your preferences or something else, and understand the environment, the world you're in, or the task you’re doing on the computer or whatever. And then we can use the AI to close that gap and enable everyone to do more and realize their full potential.” — Saqib Shaikh, Engineering Manager at Microsoft
• “I call my phone my sister because my phone is the person I go to when I’m on the street if I’m walking in Manhattan. The other day I was meeting someone on 47th Street. I wasn’t sure which block I was on. All I did was open Seeing AI short text, hold it up to the street sign, and it told me I was on West 46th Street.” — Alice Massa
• “Some of the interesting things powered by generative AI is going from taking a photo, say from your photo gallery if you’re reliving memories from your vacation, or even just what’s in front of you right now. It can go from saying it’s a man sitting on a chair in a room to actually giving you maybe a whole paragraph describing what’s in the room, what’s on the shelf, what’s In the background, what’s through the window, even. And it’s just remarkable. I work on this every day. I understand the technology, yet as an end user, I still am surprised and delighted by what this generation of AI is capable of telling me.” — Saqib Shaikh

Contact Us:

Contact us at podcasts@lighthouseguild.org with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links:

• Lighthouse Guild
• Together, Tacit
• Retissa Neoviewer
• State Tactile Omero Museum
• Emily Metauten Artist Page (Herminia Blue)