University of Virginia cognitive scientist Per Sederberg has a fun experiment you can try at home. Take out your smartphone and, using a voice assistant such as the one for Google’s search engine, say the word “octopus” as slowly as you can.
Your device will struggle to reiterate what you just said. It might supply a nonsensical response, or it might give you something close but still off – like “toe pus.” Gross!
The point is, Sederberg said, when it comes to receiving auditory signals like humans and other animals do – despite all of the computing power dedicated to the task by such heavyweights as Google, Deep Mind, IBM and Microsoft – current artificial intelligence remains a bit hard of hearing.
The outcomes can range from comical and mildly frustrating to downright alienating for those who have speech problems.
Read more at University of Virginia
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