The voice & speech AI glossary
Clear, plain-language definitions of the terms behind conversational and speech AI — from ASR and diarization to agentic workflows.
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AI Agents
AI Agents: What Are They and What Impact Do They Have? When you think of an AI assistant, your mind probably jumps straight to voice...
AI Voice Agent
AI voice agents are changing the way we interact with technology—and with each other. From customer service to internal operations, these digital voices are...
API-First Approach
API-First Approach: Building Scalable, Future-Proof Applications Software development is evolving, and businesses need solutions that are scalable, flexible, and built to last. An API-first approach...
Automatic Speech Recognition
Defining Automatic Speech Recognition and Exploring How it Works With technology all around us, it was only a matter of time before we could...
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CER (Character Error Rate)
When it comes to speech recognition and AI-driven text processing, accuracy is everything. That’s where CER, or character error rate, comes in. It’s the...
Closed Captioning
Ever watched a video with the sound off—and still followed every word perfectly? That’s the power of closed captioning. Whether you're in a noisy...
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Hands Free Operation
For frontline workers in any work environment, it comes as no surprise that their hands are always full. Whether they are busy operating machinery,...
Human in the Loop
Artificial intelligence continues to automate more decisions across industries, but full automation is not always desirable or safe. In many real-world environments, human judgment...
Human-Machine Interface
What Is a Human-Machine Interface (HMI)? While it’s become something of a routine, humans and machines interact in meaningful ways every day. From the cars...
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Named Entity Recognition
What is Named Entity Recognition (NER)? Named entity recognition, also referred to as NER, is a concept in natural language processing (NLP) that categorizes entities...
Natural Language Interface? (NLI)
What Is a Natural Language Interface? A natural language interface (NLI), also called a natural language user interface, is a platform that allows a computer...
Natural Language Processing
AI Natural Language Processing: What is It and What Makes it Work? Speech is the most natural form of communication, and these days, technologies understand...
Natural Language Understanding
What is Natural Language Understanding? Natural language understanding refers to a computer’s ability to make sense of a human’s speech. Put simply, it’s the computer’s...
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Offline Speech Recognition
What Is Offline Speech Recognition? Offline speech recognition, also known as offline voice recognition, is a technology that allows devices to process, understand, and interpret...
Open Captioning
Open captioning isn’t just for film buffs and accessibility experts anymore—it’s quickly becoming a must-have for global companies, live events, and digital creators who...
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Speaker Diarization
When talking to a colleague, you can typically remember who said what…right? But what if you were asked to recall who said what two...
Speech Data Collection
Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) software is increasingly capable of understanding human communication, empowering businesses and people alike with everyday speech-driven solutions. At...
Speech Foundation Models
Understanding Speech Foundation Models Speech foundation models (SFMs) form the backbone of many natural language processing (NLP) and AI applications. But, what are speech foundation...
Speech Processing
Speech Processing: What Is It? Speech is one of the oldest forms of communication, but for machines to learn how to understand and replicate it,...
Speech Recognition
What Is Speech Recognition? Speech recognition is the technology that allows a computer to recognize human speech and process it into text. It’s also known...
Speech to Text (STT)
On average, native speakers can say 150-160 words per minute. When it comes to typing, people tend to clock in at an average of...
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Voice Activity Detection (VAD)
Have you ever been in a crowded room while trying to focus in and hear what someone is saying to you? Chances are the...
Voice AI
Voice AI Definition, Applications, and Benefits Once upon a time, it would have felt like a scientific fantasy to be able to communicate with machines....
Voice Recognition
What is Voice Recognition and How Does it Work? Voice recognition refers to the ability to identify speakers and transform spoken words into data and...
Voice To Text
What is Voice to Text? Whether you’re driving and asking Siri to “Read my texts” or cooking and requesting Alexa to “Play some Red Hot...
Voice to Voice Technology
Voice to Voice Technology: The Future of Communication Is Already Here Voice to voice technology is making global communication easier, faster, and more human than...
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Zero Disruption
Across industries, technology has often been a double-edged sword. On one side, it promises innovation, efficiency, and growth. On the other, it sometimes introduces...
Zero Shot Learning
Are you curious about how AI models can learn to understand and classify information without being explicitly trained on specific examples? That’s the magic...
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