Prosthetics have come to life in a variety of ways, with recent evolvements looking more like a sci-fi depiction of the future. And most of this technology is designed to mimic our body and bring back the function that was lost. But what if we went further? What if instead of relying on our body to control the technology, we decided to let the technology think for itself?

That’s exactly what Dr. Tommaso Lenzi and his researchers at the University of Utah’s Bionic Engineering Lab decided to bring to life. And their AI-powered bionic leg will change the future of advanced prosthetics.

Powered prosthetics are conventionally made to mimic their biological counterparts in terms of weight and power output, but the problem is they don’t make much improvement on the functionality of passive prosthetic limbs, which serve no actual function other than cosmetic restoration. In many cases, both passive and powered prosthetics actually slowed users down and caused physical strain to other parts of the body. That’s why AI-powered prosthetics are a game-changer.

Dr. Lenzi’s bionic leg is far lighter than a biological leg and half the weight of any comparably powered prosthetics. And whereas most prosthetics are controlled by the user – either manually or through sensory detecting nerve cuffs – Dr. Lenzi is letting the leg think for itself. It is designed to work as an autonomous device that works symbiotically with its users by reading their body movements.

Though a bionic AI-powered leg is not yet common, it’s also not a pipe dream. In tests so far, it is already changing people’s lives.