Weak Speech Recognition Leaves Customers Cold - ' When Will It Work'

As speech technologies improve, so do the possibilities.

It's difficult to envision what a truly speech-recognition-enabled world will look like. Will we be able to tell our televisions which shows we want to watch, or tell our alarm clocks to let us sleep for 15 more minutes?

Daniel Munyan, a biometrics expert and chief scientist of the global security solutions identity labs at Computer Sciences Corp., a $14.5 billion technology consulting firm based in El Segundo, Calif., predicts that speech patterns will replace traditional passwords in the future.

"Passwords are dead," he said. With voice as a biometric, "you create a password that's so long and complex that it can't be hacked in any amount of time that would give value to the defrauder." Plus, he added, "It's the only biometric that can be used remotely," so you can verify your identity over the phone. Munyan said he envisions a day in the not-so-distant future when Web sites will require voice samples to gain access.

Some companies imagine even greater possibilities. Miami Children's Hospital, for example, is piloting a project to equip operating rooms with speech software.

"One of the biggest hurdles for doctors is the accessibility of patient data," said Jeffrey White, the hospital's systems programmer, "particularly in areas where the environment is sterile, like an operating room during surgery, when a doctor's hands need to be on the patient."

A doctor wearing a small microphone can speak certain commands to the speech system, and the necessary information comes up on a screen, or is spoken back through speakers embedded in the ceiling.

"We have a strong belief that technology like this can change the future of health care for the better," White said.

Still, it will be a long time before speech recognition technology gets good enough for anything more complicated than simple, predefined verbal commands. "I wouldn't even like to guess how far we are from those kinds of applications," said Gartner analyst Steve Cramoysan.

For now, the next time you find yourself cursing at automated agents like Julie, calmly remind yourself—before you request a live agent—that she's doing her best. After all, she's only subhuman.

When Will It Work? When Will It Be Worth the Work?

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