Speech recognition applications include voice dialing, call routing, simple data entry, speech-to-text processing. Two-way speech conversation with computers (remember Hal?) is next…

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Of course it would!

Well, now it is possible all thanks to amazing speech to text voice recognition programs. Using such program is a huge advantage compared to writing with a either pen or computer keyboard.

Writing with a keyboard is not that hard to learn, but it does take some time before you start to write with an average to good writing speed. It took me at least one to two years to write with a speed I am proud to admit. But, I am still not capable of leaving a remarkable impression with my English teacher, who is trained at speed writing.

But now that I use a specific voice recognition program for writing my articles I am way faster than him!

This is actually my first article I write using this tremendously easy and user-friendly application helping me write down an formative, entertaining article. I really hope you like reading it as much as I like writing it – or should I say dictating it?

That is of course the biggest benefit. No more typing. But, …

Here Are a Few Cons of Using a Speech to Text Program

• It took me a while to install and configure the program to recognize my voice to effectively translate what I say into proper English.
• The voice recognition software is a bit slow. I can not talk too rapidly or else it will write down something different from what I am saying. I also have to speak out a series of words with a small pause in between each word. When I talk faster, I have to raise my voice slightly. Whatever the case, pronunciation is key!
• Whenever I see the program write down a word incorrectly, I need to go correct it by saying “correct word”, “select word” or “undo that”. It happens less and less but it does still happen quite frequently.

Here Are a Few Pros of Using a Speech to Text Program

• I do not have to type anymore. Typing is tiring; at least it is for me. Sometimes I need a break. Using my personal favorite and very effective, speech to text program I can write 3 articles instead of 2.
• I can sit back, relax and do not have to worry about any back pain or eye fatigue.
• I do not have to stare at the screen anymore and correct typing errors. I can focus more on inspiration to write my articles, and even read information on any subject I am writing about to construct my sentences.
• And I also do not have to use my mouse that much anymore to select words, make alterations in the sentences or highlight text and push buttons to make bullet points, bold text, etc.

So you see, even though it takes time to get used to using the speech to text program, you can really shorten the time to write an article or any other piece you are required to write.I have not used my speech to text program frequently yet and I already like it very much simply because it is so easy. Even though it does not go as fast as I initially wanted it to go, I know it will go faster the more I use it. The program has a built in intelligence that records and stores my voice and it occasionally asks me to optimize my personal voice recognition data based on the gathered voice samples during dictation sessions to improve the actually recognition and consequently the output on paper.

Sadly, I cannot enclose the brand name of the voice recognition program I use in this specific article, but there are many out there that are probably as effective as the one I am using right now.

If you want to speed up the process of writing articles, be sure to do a few searches for naturally speaking speech to text software using your favorite search engine. They are really not that hard to find on the Internet. I have also noticed they are also not that expensive considering what you get in return and even if you would find one which is expensive, it is well worth your buck. Believe you me!

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yves_Juliaan

At one time, the concept of speech recognition software existed almost exclusively in the world of science-fiction films. Remember the classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey? This was probably the film that first popularized the concept of talking to a computer. When people first viewed this film, they look at speech recognition programs as pure fantasy. Today, they are a reality and can be used with your home and office computer.

There are two forms of speech recognition software. The first is text to speech and it involves highlighted text that is then “read” out loud over the computer’s speakers. The second version is speech to text, which is also commonly referred to as dictation software. This type of speech recognition program listens to a person’s dictation and then types it out on a word processing program. Only a few short years ago, these very helpful programs were quite expensive. Today, their prices have come down significantly and they are much more accessible for personal and business use.

There are a number of “unintended” benefits that using speech recognition software provides. One of these benefits is reducing the tension and stress that is commonly placed on the wrist and finger joints when typing for extended hours. Those who suffer from the very painful condition of carpal tunnel syndrome will attest to the discomfort that such pain can cause. In the past, there was no way to reduce such stress because their profession required significant amounts of typing. With the advent of Speech to Text and Text to Speech programs, the ability to perform the same amount of work with less physical exertion is possible.

Actual, the phrase “same amount of work” may not be an accurate one. The use of speech recognition software can lead to a significant increase in productivity. Quickly dictating into a speech to text program can lead prove to be much quicker than typing out lengthy documents or reports by hand. Also, the text to speech program can greatly enhance the ability to multitask. Rather than sitting and reading a webpage or document on a computer, the speech recognition program can read it to you while you are working on something else at the same time. For those who never seem to have enough time in the day, both text to speech and speech to text can help you get more work accomplished.

Some may wonder if these speech recognition programs are user friendly. The answer is yes as long as you properly install the programs and follow the necessary steps to acclimate the program to your voice. The programs offer an option to dictate a pre-written script that the program will use to determine you pattern of speech and pronunciation. Once completed, the speech recognition program will understand the way to talk and this will reduce dictation errors. In terms of the text to speech program, you will have the option of altering the program’s voice. This way, you can make the program clearer and easier to understand.

Yes, speech recognition programs have arrived and they have the potential to forever alter the way you interact with your computer. Yes, the space odyssey has now moved to the earth.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sassine_Mazraani

Introduction

The term AI cannot be explained in a few words or sentences. It is an amalgamation of logic, philosophy and computer technology. Even though man has been included under the category mammals, his status is an elevated one. This is primarily due to the fact that human beings are blessed with intelligence. It can be seen that only few animals like the ape have been endowed with a small percentage of intelligence. A human being on the other hand has a personality, habits, traits, memory etc, which could be horned to a higher degree. This is where humans differ from other creatures. For example, we may be able to recognize a person even after twenty years. This is because an image of the person, his mannerisms, voice etc may have been recorded in our brain and lay dormant for years. The memory can be triggered which produces brain waves to bring forth the image or thoughts that may have been stored for over a long period of time. This is an extremely complex process which happens in the brain. All the events that follow have not been completely understood. This explains why advances in the area of artificial intelligence are yet to produce a machine which can simulate the human brain.

It may be an easy task for a three year old to move among toys strewn across a room without touching it. A robot may not be able to do this with the same ease and effectiveness. A human being has sense organs, which recognize sights, sounds, smells etc that are transmitted through neurons to the brain at the speed of light. This is the reason why we react to sensations. The muscles of the leg may be activated which result in more blood being pumped so that the person can escape from a dangerous situation such a fire or from the scene of a bomb blast. These actions take place due to stimulus sent from the brain which activates the leg muscles. Simulation of such an action requires a lot of sophisticated hardware and software. This is the area where robotics and artificial intelligence play their role. We can recognize a person by sight, sound etc. This is done by images sent by the optic and olfactory nerves to the brain. A robot on the other hand uses a pair of cameras in place of the eyes and software coupled with moving parts like an artificial limb.

Areas of application

1. Chess playing

Chess is a game which has been using artificial intelligence to produce better systems in game playing. Computer is basically an electronic device which accepts instructions from the user and works on data to produce outputs. In traditional computing databases are used to store chunks of data which ultimately give useful information. In AI, knowledge bases are used, which can store information through inferences and dialogues with the user and also update themselves. Chess is a game where moves and positions are of great importance. When a human chess player is in action, he will make the moves based on previous knowledge acquired or by intuition. Where as in computer simulated games, thousands of moves are calculated by the computer using brute force method where the most appropriate move is chosen. When a human plays chess, it is based on expertise and skills, where as in computer simulated chess environment, the computer plays based on calculations. For instance the most famous of man versus computer chess matches were played between Deep Blue, developed by IBM in 1997 and grandmaster Garry Kasparov. The computer won the series 2-1, with three matches being drawn. This spawned a great deal of interest in this area and other machines followed. Deep Blue, with its capability of evaluating 200 million positions per second, was the strongest computer that ever faced a world chess champion. Today, in computer chess research and matches of world class players against computers, the focus of play has often shifted to software controlled chess programs, rather than using dedicated chess hardware. Modern chess programs such as Rybka, Deep Fritz or Deep Junior are more efficient than the programs during Deep Blue’s era.

2. Speech Recognition

In the 1990s, computer speech recognition reached a practical level for limited purposes. United Airlines has replaced its keyboard tree for flight information by a system using speech recognition of flight numbers and city names during this time which proved very convenient. Speech Recognition is an area where intense research is going on. During earlier days of computing, speech recognition was considered a stiff challenge. Now with advent of new hardware and software this process has been simplified. Even the commonly used MS-OFFICE suite has built-in features that support speech recognition. The software which converts speech to text essentially relies on the repository which stores commonly used words and its pronunciation. This process is intricate in the sense that the accent may vary from person to person. Hence before the software can be used, it must be trained with the user’s way of talking. Once this is done, the user can talk on a microphone connected to the computer which translates his words into text. In fact this software can function as an assistant when the user wants to dictate some text. Dragon software has emerged as a complete solution in this area. Dragon ‘Naturally Speaking’ software from ‘Nuance’ is used by millions of people.It can be used in office, at home, at school, on road, or even in the operating room. It allows the user to get more done faster by voice. With Dragon, people can write documents and emails, search the Web, and even control their PC entirely by voice, saving time and boosting productivity. In their latest review, the editors of PC Magazine noted: “Dragon retains its lead in the speech recognition field, with surprising accuracy in dictation, even with little or no training.”

3. Understanding Natural Language

Natural language understanding is an area where lot of ambiguity still exists. This involves recognising the whole text and interpreting its meaning The computer has to be provided with an understanding of the domain the text is about, and this is presently possible only for very limited domains. Natural language processing (NLP) is an area of computational linguistics concerned with the processing of naturally occurring (human) language by computer. Natural-language-generation systems convert information from computer databases into normal-sounding human language. Natural-language-understanding systems convert samples of human language into more formal representations that are easier for computer programs to manipulate. Natural language processing by computers is still in its infancy and a lot of work remains to be done.

4. Computer Vision

The world is composed of three-dimensional objects, but the inputs to the human eye and computers’ TV cameras are two dimensional. Some useful programs can work solely in two dimensions. A full computer vision requires partial three-dimensional information that is not just a set of two-dimensional views. At present there are only limited ways of representing three-dimensional information directly, and they are not as good as what human eye employs. In case of robots, cameras convert images into digital format, which are then processed.

5. Expert Systems

One of the largest areas of applications of artificial intelligence is in expert systems, or knowledge based systems as they are often known. This area has been fairly well developed and has proved useful for real time applications. This type of system seeks to exploit the specialised skills or information held by of a group of people on specific areas. It can be thought of as a computerised consulting service. It can also be called an information guidance system. Such systems are used for medical diagnosis or as educational aids. The skills and knowledge of an expert is simulated in a computerised environment to provide the effective solutions to a problem. The areas where expert systems are used range from disaster warning systems to medical diagnostics. The earliest expert system was MYCIN which was used for treating blood related diseases as early as 1974. When creating an expert system, a ‘knowledge engineer’ interviews experts in a certain domain and tries to embody their knowledge in a computer program for carrying out some tasks.

6. Heuristics classification

This is an area where information and knowledge from various sources are classified and focused to provide results in a particular area. For example in the modern world economic crisis is rampant. One of the major reasons why several banks in U.S have collapsed is due to excessive credit payments. Expert systems have been used in a limited way to arrive at a consensus whether a particular person may be issued a credit card or not. His traits and habits are to be studied and recorded so that it may be concluded whether he is capable of repayment. Expert systems using such heuristics in banking areas could have provided a solution to this global crisis. Other areas include decision support systems, public information systems etc.

Conclusion

On the whole it can be concluded that Artificial Intelligence applications will play a decisive role in providing real time solutions to various problems humans face. A humane touch along with a technological interface will play a major role in shaping the future.