Building flowing conversations with Speechmatics

In the latest episode of the Building Rapport podcast, Will Millership sits down with Ricardo Herreros-Symons, Chief Strategy Officer at Speechmatics, to explore the advancements in conversational AI, specifically their latest product, Flow. This episode offers a deep dive into Speechmatics' commitment to making real-time, high-quality speech-to-text accessible, usable, and interactive across multiple industries.

Speechmatics and Flow

Ricardo introduced Speechmatics as a leader in automatic speech recognition (ASR), supporting over 50 languages with exceptional accuracy. Recently, Speechmatics has launched a new conversational AI product, Flow, its standout feature, as Ricardo explains, is "real-time interaction," which he sees as fundamental to the future of speech interfaces. Flow is designed to bring a more human touch to AI-driven interactions by incorporating the latest advancements in ASR and natural language processing (NLP). "The world is going to require speech at the interface to pretty much everything," says Ricardo, highlighting Flow's potential to seamlessly interact across various platforms, from vehicles and TVs to virtual assistants.

The Evolution and Unique Capabilities of Flow

Flow goes beyond basic ASR by acting as an interactive conversational agent that can adapt to complex, real-time scenarios. One of Speechmatics’ agents, nicknamed "Humphrey," was present during the podcast, showcasing Flow's potential for live interaction. Speechmatics aims to bridge the gap between machine responses and human conversation, making Flow adaptable to a myriad of applications. From simplifying corporate training and simulations to assisting in real-time media monitoring and customer support, Flow’s potential applications are vast and varied.

Ricardo emphasized the importance of Flow's real-time speech recognition, especially for industries needing instant, accurate responses. In these instances, Flow's minimal latency and adaptability shine. "With Flow, we’re creating a system capable of handling live captions on major broadcast networks and even sensitive data in financial institutions,” Ricardo says, noting Speechmatics' drive to develop the “most inclusive speech-to-text technology.”

The Technology Behind Flow: Language Versatility and Real-Time Accuracy

One of Speechmatics’ most impressive feats is its language support, with new additions continually being developed. Ricardo explains how Speechmatics uses self-supervised learning models, enabling the system to adapt across languages and accents with minimal labeled data. This training approach allows Flow to be versatile, accurate, and highly efficient across different linguistic landscapes.

Flow can also support multilingual capabilities, demonstrated during the podcast through real-time translation between English and Spanish. “We’ve built Flow to recognize nuances in speech across languages, dialects, and even accents,” says Ricardo, emphasizing Speechmatics’ commitment to creating an accessible, multilingual AI assistant.

What Sets Speechmatics Apart

Speechmatics distinguishes itself from other ASR providers in several ways. Notably, it offers low latency while maintaining high accuracy, allowing for a natural conversational experience. Furthermore, Speechmatics' customizable language model can incorporate domain-specific vocabulary, ensuring that industry jargon, unique product names, or specialized terminology are accurately recognized and transcribed.

The "speaker diarization" feature—Flow’s ability to recognize who is speaking in a conversation—enhances its usability in environments with multiple speakers, such as meetings or group discussions. “We’ve implemented speaker diarization, so Flow knows not just what’s being said but who is saying it,” Ricardo explains. This capability allows for precise speaker identification, making Flow ideal for professional and collaborative settings.

Future of Flow and Speechmatics

As Speechmatics looks to the future, Flow continues to evolve. Flow aims to redefine how companies and users interact with conversational AI. Ricardo highlights the impact Flow is likely to have over the next 12 months as companies seek AI solutions that transform customer engagement, employee training, and day-to-day operations.

Find out more about Speechmatics and Flow: https://www.speechmatics.com/.