Voice recognition software that's better at conversation than you? It's here - according to Microsoft:
Bottom Line: Late last year Microsoft announced that for the first time in the 20+ year history of "automated speech-recognition-systems", they'd created technology that was as effective at interpreting human conversations as us human types. Shortly thereafter IBM said they'd done better still. Now Microsoft's back saying they've bested them. So what's really going on and is the software finally accurate enough to help us avoid endless frustrations with voice dictation?
Researchers have previously found that the average person accurately interprets 94.1% of regular conversation. In other words, we miss or incorrectly hear/understand 5.9% of all communication. That's the level that Microsoft achieved last fall. IBM, with it's Watson technology, claimed a 5.5% error rate early this year. Microsoft's latest update purports a 5.1% error rate. If that's the case it's now about as effective as the best communicators/listeners to everyday conversation. So what does this mean to you? Will it make your life easier/better?
The answer is potentially yes but most likely no. The key happens to be the two companies leading innovation in this technology. If it were Google and Apple - you'd have the potential for significant benefit quickly. Google Voice and Siri are far and away the two most commonly used digital assistants. Instead it's two companies that have a very small footprint in digital voice assistance. IBM's Watson will be improved for the businesses that licence it's technology but that's about it for now. Microsoft has the potential to impact most people with this technology but likely won't. Microsoft's Cortana has been the most accurate in voice dictation since it's creation a few years ago. The problem is that most people rely on digital voice assistance on mobile devices and Microsoft's footprint in mobile in negligible. On the other had Microsoft's Cortana is on every current Windows OS and has the potential to impact many people but to date most people haven't felt the need to use the service on traditional PC's.
The win-win would be if Microsoft and/or IBM decided to license the technology to Google and Apple.