Speech recognition software enables us to have the ability to speak input into many different systems. You are able to talk to your phone, computer, or basically just about any device that listens to what you have said and puts it into text. Over time this new technology will make it so we no longer have to type or click when using certain devices. At first it may seem confusing to some but over time as people start to understand how this software works it will actually increase productivity and hopefully becomes more user friendly than actually having to type. A good example of this is when you use your phone and access the "Siri" option. At this point you are able to speak into your phone by either giving it a command or simply just engaging in conversation.
Although there are many pro's when it comes to speech recognition there are also a couple cons that come with it. Currently, people may become frustrated when using their speech recognition because it does not always come back with the correct text that you wanted it to say simply because it could not understand your voice. Also many people encounter problems when trying to give their phones certain commands. For example when you ask Siri to call "Steve" and she calls mike or instead of calling Siri opens up the text option. Since speech recognition is just now starting to evolve, there will still be many errors like this that will occur over time. The good thing about it is the fact that as people continue to use this speech recognition software, over time it will become more advanced and actually able to pick up exactly what you said or what you told your phone to do without error.
Even though this technology seems like a great idea there are risks that may come with it. China has now developed a way to actually activate peoples voice recognition systems without even speaking a word. They use high frequencies that humans can not hear and once they have successfully done this, they are then able to send commands to your phone by using an electronic microphone. What are your thoughts on this current situation in regards to protecting our personal smart phones/computers from hackers and does the reward for using this software outweigh the risks that may come with it?
Sources:
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/06/hackers-send-silent-commands-to-speech-recognition-systems-with-ultrasound/
https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-speech-recognition-3426721
@Willm I enjoy reading your post. I found this really interesting that people in China can hack voice recognition with ultrasound. As technology evolves, for example speech recognition, hackers will always continue finding a way to hack into something because nothing is 100% safe. It is safe to use only if you are using it correctly and for the right purposes.
ReplyDeleteI personally do not use Siri for my iPhone because it is frustrating when Siri cannot understand what I am trying to say. It'll definitely take time to develop and in the future I may decide to give up another try. It can helpful to use speech recognition while you are driving instead of using your phone and driving at the same time.
Hi Willm, I really liked your second paragraph about China using people's voices. I didn't even know they could do that. It is very cool but at the same time, it's dangerous too because you won't even know if you are going hacked. I think voice recognition is very beneficial for certain uses but I think it's going to be a long time before it becomes a norm.
ReplyDeleteI know Iphone has Siri, and Samsung has S voice but I rarely see anyone use voice commands unless their hands are busy. Almost all the time, I see people texting or calling someone with their hands. The only time I see someone use voice commands is when they are driving. I agree with you that voice recognition is in its early stages so there are a lot of problems still. I believe that is also a big reason why not a lot of people use Siri.
Right now, I don't see the rewards outweighing the risks of voice recognition. I'm actually not so familiar with voice recognition but after reading about China, this is a very serious and dangerous problem. I just don't see much benefits of voice recognition. I think motion or hand recognition is fine. It's not like hand motion is a nuisance, because every smart phone uses hand motion. I just think hand motion recognition is safer and the there aren't much more benefits for voice recognition.
The example about ultrasound hack is an outstanding real-life hacks. It is such a surprising idea that prove again: "no system is 100% safe."
ReplyDeletePersonally, I can take the risk of using voice typing as long as i am not talking about my personal identical information or credit card password. i learn to analyze the risk and choose to accept the risk.
I enjoyed reading your post. I recently learned about a VR language app with speech recognition at Tech Talk, which is called MondlyVR. For instance, using MondlyVR, you can choose a situation in which you can practice English, such as in a taxi, hotel, restaurant, and so on. At a virtual restaurant, you talk to a waitress who says, “Which drink would you like?”. If you don’t understand, you can click and listen to what she said over and over until you catch it. Then you speak to her and your answer is recognized by embedded speech recognition system. This type of VR technology immerses you in a virtual world and integrates language learning to experience, which I think is really cool.
ReplyDeleteReference
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mondly-launches-the-first-vr-language-app-with-speech-recognition-for-daydream-300515709.html