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Marketplace Tech

How AI is helping people speak

Marketplace Tech

Marketplace

News, Technology

4.5 β€’ 1.3K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 23 May 2023

⏱️ 12 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The language models behind artificial intelligence chatbots aren’t just great at generating term papers, Fake Drake raps and get-rich-quick schemes. This technology could be transformative in the world of augmentative and alternative communication. AAC refers to all the ways people communicate besides talking. It’s typically used by people who β€” due to a medical issue or disability β€” experience difficulty with speech. Sam Sennott, an assistant professor of special education at Portland State University in Oregon, has spent much of his career researching the field. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Sennott about what he calls an exciting time for AAC.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Marketplace Morning Reports' new Skin in the Game series explores what we can learn about

0:04.6

money and careers from the $300 billion video game industry. Plus, here how an Oakland-based

0:11.0

program helps young people get the skills they need to break into this booming industry.

0:15.9

Listen to Skin in the Game and more from the Marketplace Morning Report wherever you get your

0:20.7

podcasts. This might sound obvious, but AI chatbots could transform how some people chat.

0:30.1

From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech. I'm Megan McCarty-Karino.

0:44.2

The language models behind artificial intelligence chatbots aren't just great at generating

0:50.4

term papers, fake drake wraps, and get rich quick schemes, which is how you see a lot of people

0:57.3

using them on social media. This technology could be transformative in the world of augmentative

1:03.6

and alternative communication, also known as AAC. That refers to all the ways people communicate

1:10.8

besides talking. Usually, people who do a medical issue or disability experience difficulty

1:17.6

with speech. It's a field Sam Senate has spent much of his career on. He's an assistant professor

1:23.4

of special education at Portland State University, and he says this is an exciting time for AAC.

1:30.4

There are so many technological advancements that have helped people with disabilities communicate,

1:36.0

but it's kind of funny because this isn't that new for us. Some of the first hardware for AAC

1:43.2

on computers came out in the 1970s, and it's developed over time, harnessing AI innovations,

1:51.3

like word prediction and dynamic word prediction models.

1:56.1

And how does something like predictive text change the communication experience for users?

2:02.3

We see great benefits from word prediction. It can speed things up for people who have a very

2:07.9

low rate of keystroke, so they're typing speed. The other piece is it can add a dynamic element

2:15.2

in that our modern prediction tools can really bring contextual factors in like the time of day,

2:21.9

or where you are, who you're speaking to, and topics you may be studying at work or school,

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