Early on in the evolution of artificial intelligence, researchers realized the power and possibility of machines that are able to understand the meaning and nuances of human speech. Conversation and human language is a particularly challenging area for computers, since words and communication is not precise. Human language is filled with nuance, context, cultural and societal depth, and imprecision that can lead to a wide range of interpretations. If computers can understand what we mean when we talk, and then communicate back to us in a way we can understand, then clearly weve accomplished a goal of artificial intelligence.
Conversational interaction as a pattern of AI
Conversational pattern of AI
This particular application of AI is so profound that it makes up one of the fundamental seven patterns of AI: the conversation and human interaction pattern. The fundamental goal of the conversational pattern is to enable machines to communicate with humans in human natural language patterns, and for machines to communicate back to humans in the language they understand. Instead of requiring humans to conform to machine-modes of interaction such as typing, swiping, clicking, or using computer programming languages, the power of the conversational pattern is that we can interact with machines the way we interact with each other: by speaking, writing, and communicating in a way that our brains have already been wired to understand.
Many cases of todays narrow applications of AI are focused on human communication. If a computer can understand what a human means when they communicate, we can create all manner of applications of practical value from chatbots and conversational agents to systems that can read what we write in our documents and emails and even systems that can accurately translate from one human language to another without losing meaning and context.
Machine to human, machine to machine, and human to machine interactions are all examples of how AI communicates and understands human communication. Some real-life examples include voice assistants, content generation, chatbots, sentiment analysis, mood analysis, and intent analysis, and also machine powered translation. The applications of the conversational pattern are so broad that entire market sectors are focused on the use of AI-enabled conversational systems, from conversational finance to telemedicine and beyond. Beyond simply understanding written or spoken language, the power of the conversational pattern of AI can be seen in machine ability to understand sentiment, mood, and intent, or take visual gestures and translate them into machine understandable forms.
Natural Language Processing: evolving over the past few decades
Accurately processing and generating human language is particularly complicated, with constant technology evolution happening over the past sixty years. One of the easier to solve problems is the conversion of audio waveforms into machine readable text, known as Automatic Speech Recognition (ARS). While ASR is somewhat complicated to implement, it doesnt need machine learning or AI capabilities generally, and some fairly accurate speech-to-text technologies have been around for decades. Speech-to-text is not natural language understanding. While the computer is transcribing what the human is saying, it is taking waveforms that it understands and converting them to words. It is not interpreting the data it is hearing.
The inverse capability, text-to-speech, also doesnt require much in the way of machine learning or AI to be performed. Text-to-speech is simply the generation of waveforms by the computer to speak words that are already known. There is no understanding of the meaning of those words when simply using text-to-speech. The technology behind text to speech has been around for years, you can hear it in the movie War Games (1983): would you like to play a game?
However, speech-to-text and text-to-speech isnt where AI and machine learning are needed, even though machine learning has helped text-to-speech become more human sounding, and speech-to-text more accurate. Natural language processing (NLP) involves more than translation of waveforms and generation of audio waveforms. Just because you have text doesnt mean that machines can understand it. To gain that understanding, machines need to be able to understand and generate parts of speech, extract and understand entities, determine meanings of words, and use much more complicated processing activities to connect together concepts, phrases, concepts, and grammar into the larger picture of intent and meaning.
Natural language processing consists of two parts: natural language understanding and natural language generation. Natural language understanding is where a computer interprets human input such as voice or text and can translate that into something the machine is capable of using in the intended manner. Natural language understanding consists of many subdomains in trying to understand intent from text generated from audio waveforms or typed by humans in text-mode interactions such as chatbots or messaging interfaces. AI is applied to lexical parsing to understand grammar rules and break sentences into structural components. Regardless of the approach used, most natural-language-understanding systems share some common components. Then, once the components are identified, each piece can be semantically understood to interpret words based on context and word order. Further logical analysis and deduction can be used to determine meaning based on what the various parts are referring to, using knowledge graphs and other Methods to deduce meaning.
Natural language generation is the process of the AI being able to prepare communication for humans in any form that is natural and does not sound like it was made by a computer. In order for a computer process to be considered natural language generation the computer actually has to interpret content and understand its meaning for effective communication. This involves the reverse of many of the steps identified in natural language understanding, taking concepts and generating human-understandable conversations from how the machine understands the way humans communicate.
Why is machine-facilitated conversation so important?
When it comes down to the pattern of human and computer communication, it is receiving so much focus because our interactions with systems can be very difficult at times. Typing or swiping can take time and not communicate our needs properly while reading static content like an FAQ might not be helpful for most customers. People want to interact with machines efficiently and effectively. Many user interfaces are quite suboptimal for human interaction, requiring confusing menu interaction, interactive voice response systems that are too simplistic, or rules-based chatbots that fail to satisfy user needs.
Development of more intelligent conversational systems goes back decades, with the ELIZA chatbot first developed in 1966 as an illustration of the possibilities of machine-mediated conversation. Nowadays, users are more familiar with voice assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana, and web-based chatbots. However, if youve interacted with any of them recently, they still are lacking in understanding in many significant ways. Theres no doubt that much of the work of AI researchers is going into improving the ways that machines can understand and generate human language and thus reinforce the power of those applications that leverage the conversational pattern of AI.
Follow this link:
Machines That Can Understand Human Speech: The Conversational Pattern Of AI - Forbes
- Chinese national arrested and charged with stealing AI trade secrets from Google - NPR - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- President Biden Calls for Ban on AI Voice Impersonations During State of the Union - Variety - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Revolutionize Your Business with AWS Generative AI Competency Partners | Amazon Web Services - AWS Blog - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Broadcom Expects AI Demand to Help Offset Weakness Elsewhere - Yahoo Finance - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Micron Hits Record High With Analysts Calling It an 'Under-Appreciated AI Beneficiary' - Investopedia - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- The Adams administration quietly hired its first AI czar. Who is he? - City & State New York - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- AI likely to increase energy use and accelerate climate misinformation report - The Guardian - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Could Double, and It Is Way Cheaper Than Nvidia - Yahoo Finance - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Fake images made to show Trump with Black supporters highlight concerns around AI and elections - The Associated Press - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Artificial intelligence and illusions of understanding in scientific research - Nature.com - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Analysis | House AI task force leaders take long view on regulating the tools - The Washington Post - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Don't Give Your Business Data to AI Companies - Dark Reading - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- NIST, the lab at the center of Bidens AI safety push, is decaying - The Washington Post - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Essay | AI is Coming! Tips for Staying Calm and Carrying On - The Wall Street Journal - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- AI can be easily used to make fake election photos - report - BBC.com - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- 5 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Could Make You a Millionaire - Yahoo Finance - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- AI could be an extraordinary force for good. So why do our politicians still not have a plan? - The Guardian - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Mapping Disease Trajectories from Birth to Death with AI - Neuroscience News - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- India plans 10,000-GPU sovereign AI supercomputer - The Register - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- SAP enhances Datasphere and SAC for AI-driven transformation - CIO - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Jim Cramer names companies and sectors poised to rally on the AI wave - CNBC - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- The job applicants shut out by AI: The interviewer sounded like Siri - The Guardian - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Microsoft confirms Surface and Windows AI event for March 21st - The Verge - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Adobes new Express app brings Firefly AI tools to iOS and Android - The Verge - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- A Google AI Watched 30,000 Hours of Video GamesNow It Makes Its Own - Singularity Hub - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Palantir CEO Karp on TITAN, AI Warfare Technology - Bloomberg - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Elliptic Curve Murmurations Found With AI Take Flight - Quanta Magazine - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- 5 AI Stocks to Buy in March 2024, According to Analysts - TipRanks.com - TipRanks - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Wix's new AI chatbot builds websites in seconds based on prompts - The Verge - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- Amid record high energy demand, America is running out of electricity - The Washington Post - March 8th, 2024 [March 8th, 2024]
- AI Crypto Tokens in 5 Minutes: What to Know and Where to Start - Inc. - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- 'The Worlds I See' by AI visionary Fei-Fei Li '99 selected as Princeton Pre-read - Princeton University - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- AI is having a 1995 moment, analyst says - Business Insider - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- Vatican research group's book outlines AI's 'brave new world' - National Catholic Reporter - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- Honor's Magic 6 Pro launches internationally with AI-powered eye tracking on the way - The Verge - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- Google explains Gemini's embarrassing AI pictures of diverse Nazis - The Verge - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- Google cut a deal with Reddit for AI training data - The Verge - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- What's the point of Elon Musk's AI company? - The Verge - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- AI agents like Rabbit aim to book your vacation and order your Uber - NPR - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- Announcing Microsofts open automation framework to red team generative AI Systems - Microsoft - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- After Nvidia's latest blowout, here are 20 AI stocks expected to rise as much as 44% - Yahoo Finance - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- 1 Exceptional AI Chip Stock Investors Need to Know About in 2024 - The Motley Fool - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- Nvidia briefly hits $2 trillion valuation as AI frenzy grips Wall Street - Reuters - February 26th, 2024 [February 26th, 2024]
- AI Chatbots Can Guess Your Personal Information From What You ... - WIRED - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- Harvard IT Launches Pilot of AI Sandbox to Enable Walled-Off Use ... - Harvard Crimson - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- Advancing policing through AI: Insights from the global law ... - Police News - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- Hochul announces new SUNY, IBM investments in AI - Olean Times Herald - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- Nvidia's banking on TensorRT to expand its generative AI dominance - The Verge - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- AI expands from MRFs to vehicles - Plastics Recycling Update - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- AI Reads Ancient Scroll Charred by Mount Vesuvius in Tech First - Scientific American - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- A DEEPer (squared) dive into AI Harvard Gazette - Harvard Gazette - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- Florida bar weighs whether lawyers using AI need client consent - Reuters - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- Cognizant and Vianai Systems Announce Strategic Partnership to ... - PR Newswire - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- How AI could speed up scientific discoveries, from proteins to ... - NPR - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- AI challenge to deliver better healthcare | Western Australian ... - Government of Western Australia - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- Henry Kissinger: The Path to AI Arms Control - Foreign Affairs Magazine - October 18th, 2023 [October 18th, 2023]
- Stability AI releases StableStudio in latest push for open-source AI - The Verge - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Google CEO Sundar Pichai Predicts That This Profession Will Be ... - The Motley Fool - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Frances privacy watchdog eyes protection against data scraping in AI action plan - TechCrunch - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Investing in Hippocratic AI - Andreessen Horowitz - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- As Alphabet flexes its AI prowess, there's a 'new elephant in the room' for Google - MarketWatch - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- The Boring Future of Generative AI | WIRED - WIRED - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- OpenAI readies new open-source AI model, The Information reports - Reuters.com - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- What every CEO should know about generative AI - McKinsey - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- AI creates images of the 'perfect' man and woman - Sky News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Audit AI search tools now, before they skew research - Nature.com - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- 3 Reasons C3.ai Stock Could Be Your Golden Ticket to the AI ... - InvestorPlace - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Zoom makes a big bet on AI with investment in Anthropic - VentureBeat - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- AI voice phone scams are on the rise. Here's how to avoid them - USA TODAY - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Amazon is building an AI-powered conversational experience for ... - The Verge - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- AI speculators need to 'differentiate between actual spending and investment' and hype: Strategist - Yahoo Finance - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- AI Can Be Both Accurate and Transparent - HBR.org Daily - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- You're Probably Underestimating AI Chatbots | WIRED - WIRED - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- AI presents political peril for 2024 with threat to mislead voters - The Associated Press - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- We need AI to help us face the challenges of the future - The Guardian - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- End Of Googles Dominance? Stock Gets Rare Analyst Downgrade Over AI Fears - Forbes - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Watch 44 million atoms simulated using AI and a supercomputer - New Scientist - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- AI Is The New Electricity: Bank Of America Picks 20 Stocks To Cash In On ChatGPT Hype - Forbes - March 2nd, 2023 [March 2nd, 2023]
- Tech Giants Are Barreling Headfirst Into an AI Arms Race - February 20th, 2023 [February 20th, 2023]
- Bing's AI Is Threatening Users. That's No Laughing Matter - TIME - February 20th, 2023 [February 20th, 2023]