Chatbots, personal assistants, and smart devices are not new to the public. Voice-powered devices have impacted our cell phones, computers, smartwatches, our cars, and even our houses with smart home security companies like Vivint. Today, speech recognition ranges from finance, human resources, marketing, crime, and even public transportation with the goal of cutting business costs, simplifying outdated processes, improving user experience (UX), and increasing overall efficiency. As technology advances in the areas of cloud computing, data science, and machine learning, speech recognition technology will only improve and change business models in increasingly competitive markets. In this article, we will cover how artificial intelligence will disrupt speech recognition technology in the private domain and our everyday lives.
What is speech recognition?
According to TechTarget, “Speech recognition is the ability of a machine or program to identify words and phrases in spoken language and convert them to a machine-readable format.” Speech recognition efforts have been actively in place since the 1950s but didn’t reach accepting natural speech until the late 1990s. Machine learning (ML) has provided the majority of speech recognition breakthroughs in this century. First captivating society was Apple’s Siri, the AI-powered digital assistant that humanized speech recognition up to that point. Apple pioneering the way led competing companies to take note and make versions of their own. Microsoft soon followed by launching Cortana and then Amazon with Alexa, birthing an entire industry marked by voice command. Today, speech recognition technology is everywhere. Consumers and technologists alike realize the benefits of voice command, such as helping people with learning differences or impairments, along with reducing paperwork, time, and costs associated with . Artificial intelligence has already begun to expedite the capabilities of voice command. Google Home and Amazon Echo are examples of commonly used voice command technologies that rely heavily on AI and speech recognition to meet user expectations and automate menial, everyday tasks within the home.
