Artificial Intelligence: A Case Study on Visually Challenged in Accessing AI applications

Abstract

Marshall McLuhan’s (1960) 'Global Village’ signifies  new media technologies connect the people worldwide through technology-mediated communication, enhancing society's perceptions based on information and communication. The evolution of technology has drastically transformed communication by making the world more accessible. At the same time, Peter Drucker (1973) states that the quality of a societal relationship depends on the quality of communication. But still, the visually challenged encounter challenges in accessing information which generates impediments in communication and expressing their thoughts, ideas, and opinions. According to the report (2016) by the World Health Organization, people with disabilities are the world's largest and fastest-growing minority group, where they confront exclusion from the mainstream. So, to be part of the mainstream, communication and social development are essential. Still, for visually challenged, it gets delayed due to the inability to see the world around them, which creates disinterest in a social activity that affects socialization. Perhaps the AI application has now opened a new dimension that provides equal access to the visually impaired, improving communication and social development. Advances in technology build confidence in using audio devices such as audiobooks, voice-recognition software, voice assistants, and computer screen-readers, enabling communication. A qualitative case study was incorporated, and the study focuses distinctly on the congenital blind on how the AI applications become a rapid change that empowers them to connect and share information through different communication modes that foster social development. Technologies initiated a social, economic, and psychological facet to reshape the visually challenged distinctiveness and identity.