Posted in AI in the newsroom

BBC News adds options to its smart speaker news

BBC News is offering optional extras to go along with its regular newscasts on smart speakers. The service is using AI speech recognition software and other natural language processing abilities (NLP) to provide choices for greater depth on certain stories…

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Posted in AI in the newsroom

AudiBrow uses AI text-to-voice to create multiple news readers

A read-to-me news app uses multiple sources and multiple voices to deliver news in a different way. AudiBrow uses AI text-to-voice software to present news from publications such as The Washington Post, The Economist, The Guardian, Reuters, BBC, The Verge,…

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Posted in AI advances

IBM Trials A.I. That Can Do Soccer Commentary | FORBES

‘…the system tracks players in real-time and can identify passes, crosses and shots on goal. For pre-selected video highlights, it can also incorporate commentary based on statistics and standings drawn from a database’ A proof-of-concept for AI-driven sports commentary was…

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Posted in AI advances Video

Evolution from keyword searches to AI-enabled conversations | WEB SUMMIT 2019

Runs 17:15 Talk by Alexa Head Scientist Rohit Prasad about next steps in voice interface using Amazon’s Alexa. He describes seven objectives: More transparency and control Learning from customers More knowledge More proactive More natural More fun More conversational LISBON…

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Posted in AI advances Ethics

AI BRIEFS: October 2019

KFC Hints at AI, License Plate Recognition for Drive-thrus | THE SPOON | October 30, 2019 | by Jennifer Marston | ‘drive-thru technology could bump up check averages thanks to better personalization and suggestive selling — one of the key…

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Posted in AI in the newsroom Featured articles

BBC develops its own voice AI

BBC will use its own voice assistant on BBC platforms, including its website and BBC iPlayer, and make it available for third-party manufacturers. Its working name is Beeb, the nickname often used affectionately for the company. ‘Beeb‘ may also become…

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Posted in AI advances

Baidu announces simultaneous translation service for business users | SiliconANGLE

‘Users simply download the Baidu translation app, scan a QR code for the specific conference they’re attending, and the translations will be streamed directly to their device.‘ China tech giant Baidu has developed business-grade translation for real-time use on personal…

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Posted in AI advances

Future of Fast Food: How Valyant AI Plans to Revolutionize the Drive-Thru | OBSERVER

Instead of voice AI that’s trained to handle any question, Valyant AI is focused on expertise in one domain at a time: fast food ordering. The OBSERVER reports on how this narrow focus makes the company competitive with Alexa, Siri,…

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Posted in AI advances

Nvidia just made it easier to build smarter chatbots and slicker fake news | MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

‘…it’s likely to be a long while before machines can really converse with us. Language is deceptively difficult for machines to make sense of, in part because of its compositional complexity: words can be rearranged to unlock infinite meaning.’ US…

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Posted in Academic papers Trust

Mirroring to Build Trust in Digital Assistants | Metcalf et al

The chattiness of an AI-generated voice impacts how much it’s trusted and varies by user, according to researchers at Apple. They found useability increased when the conversational style of a voice assistant more closely matched individual preferences. They suggest conversational…

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Posted in AI advances

The future of news is humans talking to machines | NEIMAN LAB

‘…voice AI is the biggest technology revolution that the news industry is missing’ BBC digital editor Trushar Barot says voice UI is a bigger development than the iPhone and it’s not too late for the catching up required. His thoughts…

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