Enhanced AI Speech Recognition of African American English (AAE)

Howard University and Google Research recently released data which can be used by artificial intelligence developers to improve the experience of Black people using automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology.

Through the partnership, Project Elevate Black Voices, researchers traveled across the United States to catalogue both dialect and diction frequently used in Black communities but often not recognized or misconstrued by AI-driven technologies, making it more difficult for many Black individuals to engage with the technology.

Because of inherent bias in the development process, incorrect results are sometimes generated when Black users vocalize commands to AI-driven technology. Many Black users have needed to inauthentically change their voice patterns away from their natural manner of speaking to be understood by voice products.

“African American English has been at the forefront of United States culture since almost the beginning of the country,” said Gloria Washington, Ph.D., Howard University researcher and coprincipal investigator of Project Elevate Black Voices and Howard University researcher. “Voice assistant technology should understand different dialects of all African American English to truly serve not just African Americans, but other persons who speak these unique dialects. It’s about time that we provide the best experience for all users of these technologies.”