AI expert warns healthcare innovation is leaving deaf patients behind

As the global healthcare sector accelerates its adoption of artificial intelligence, an expert with deep experience in inclusive communication technology has raised concerns that innovation is moving faster than access.

Esther Oyindamola Oyanibi, a U.S.-based AI researcher and founder of Neosignis, warned that without deliberate design, emerging healthcare technologies risk deepening communication gaps for deaf, hard-of-hearing, and speech-diverse patients.

Oyanibi spoke after delivering a research paper examining AI-driven communication systems and their implications for clinical care, where she outlined how communication failures continue to contribute to misdiagnosis, delayed treatment, and patient exclusion.

Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the presentation, she stressed that healthcare AI must prioritise understanding, not just automation.

“Technology can optimise workflows, but if patients cannot clearly express symptoms or understand care instructions, the system is still failing,” Oyanibi said. “Communication breakdowns remain one of healthcare’s most underestimated risk factors.”

Drawing on her work with Neosignis, Oyanibi explained that interpreter shortages, high costs, and inconsistent availability have left many healthcare facilities unable to meet communication needs, particularly in emergency units and rural hospitals.

She noted that these gaps often force patients to rely on family members or improvised solutions, increasing the risk of error and liability.

Neosignis, an AI-powered communication platform she founded, was developed to address these challenges by enabling real-time, two-way interaction between spoken language and sign language.

The system combines speech recognition, computer vision, and language intelligence to interpret sign language, gestures, facial cues, and non-standard vocalisations, allowing for more natural clinical conversations.

According to Oyanibi, the platform is designed as a supplemental tool rather than a replacement for human interpreters.

“AI should expand options, not remove human expertise,” she said. “But in moments where interpreters are unavailable, patients should not be left without a voice.”

She further noted that communication barriers in healthcare carry significant economic consequences, including increased readmission rates, longer hospital stays, and avoidable legal exposure.

“When communication fails, costs rise — for providers, for patients, and for the system as a whole,” she said.

Beyond immediate clinical impact, Oyanibi used her paper to outline a future in which accessibility is embedded into healthcare infrastructure. She argued that AI-driven communication tools must be integrated into telemedicine platforms, patient intake systems, and electronic health records to ensure continuity of care.

Her research, published in the World Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology and Sciences in 2025, focuses on AI systems capable of supporting autistic individuals with complex communication needs. The study emphasises resilience to non-standard communication patterns, sensory-aware interface design, inclusive datasets, and safeguards against bias principles she said are essential as AI scales across healthcare.

Incorporated in the United States and backed by early angel investment, Neosignis is positioning itself within the growing market for ethical and inclusive AI solutions. Oyanibi noted that aligning accessibility with innovation is not only a social imperative but an economic one.

“As healthcare systems modernise, the question is not whether AI will be used,” she said. “It is whether those systems will truly hear every patient they are meant to serve.”