Making Computers Talk

Dial up a bank or airline these days, and chances are your call will be answered by a pre-recorded voice rather than a live human being. By stringing together several canned phrases, such systems do an adequate job of bringing a banking or ticket-booking transaction to a successful conclusion. Though the cobbled-together speech sounds stilted, these systems are sufficient for handling limited transactions, where the subject matter is known in advance. But since they can't stray from their pre-recorded phrases, their capabilities are limited.

Visit / More...