Ubenwe Health a subsidiary of Mila- Quebec Institute of Artificial Intelligence has developed an AI model that deciphers newborn cries and offers parents suggestions. The app, Nanni AI which is available in the Google Play and the Apple store, was produced with three years of clinical research in hospital settings in multiple countries, listening to newborn cries and learning type and solutions to those cries.

The developers are emphatic that this is a limited tool, not a replacement for competent parenting, nor of parental feeling. And it only works with newborn cries, as older babies cry differently and hopefully after a few months of getting to know one another, direct communication between caregiver and baby will be more effective.

There is plenty of research showing that for some, newborn crying increases the risk for child abuse or neglect. This is when crying becomes maladaptive and its why scientists have spent over half a century researching it, and now we have a translator app.

With that in mind, I think (I hope) this is a good development to help bewildered parents of newborns learn about their baby and for the baby to develop trust in their caregivers– assuming it works.

Sources

Desautels, Katrine. 25 April 2024. “Une application IA interprète les pleurs de bébé pour aider les parents.” (“AI App helps parents interpret baby’s cries.”)Le Devoir (The Duty.)

QMI. 4 Sept 2023. “Intelligence artificielle: une application montréalaise pour traduire les pleurs de son bébé.” (“Artificial Intelligence: a Montreal app to translate your baby cries.) Le Journal de Montreal.

Tsarfiavia, Todisoa. 11 Jan 2024. “Cette application prétend pouvoir traduire les pleurs de votre bébé grâce à l’IA.” (“This app claims to translate your baby’s cries using AI.”) CNET France.