While Robot Process Automation (RPA) - using robots to automate work processes 
- has produced great results in automating tasks like document creation and 
data entry, certain tasks like recording meeting minutes and transcribing 
speeches still need to be carried out manually. Learn how Toshiba's newly 
developed speech recognition AI helps convert speech to text with high accuracy 
and contribute to increased productivity in the workplace and beyond.

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The technology behind the accuracy in speech recognition

In 2015, when Toshiba first began developing this form of AI, there was 
increasing momentum around the world in the field of information accessibility, 
which aims to create environments that enables the hearing-impaired to access 
and input information.

With insights from hearing-impaired employees wanting to participate in 
meetings and lectures in real time, Toshiba's development of speech recognition 
AI started with two points in mind -- to expand information accessibility for 
the hearing-impaired, and increase productivity.

Algorithms form the core of AI, and the development team explored a variety of 
approaches to increase accuracy. Toshiba's speech recognition AI not only 
recognizes speech with high accuracy, but also detects fillers and hesitation 
markers. By using the increasingly popular model known as Long Short-Term 
Memory (LSTM) as well as Connectionist Temporal Classification (CTC), the AI 
was taught about speech peculiarities such as fillers and hesitation markers 
that are exclusive to human beings.

Using lectures as an opportunity for verification testing, the speech 
recognition AI has achieved an average speech recognition ratio of 85%, 
recognizing the contents of speech above a certain level without editing or 
advance learning. Toshiba will continue to work on the improvement of this 
technology to achieve a fully accurate speech recognition offering with the 
goal of creating an environment where speakers of different languages will be 
able to enjoy a smooth conversation with one another.

Toshiba also sees potential in applying speech recognition AI to the 
manufacturing sector, where there is a need for hands-free voice collection and 
recording in factories during maintenance and inspections. In the future, 
Toshiba aims to use its accumulated knowledge and know-how on manufacturing 
facilities to seamlessly integrate speech recognition into their operations.

SOURCE  Toshiba Corporation