AI Speech Lab demoing to Minister Heng Swee Keat in his visit to AI.SG on 4th Sep 2018

Source: screenshot from Channel 8 News online.

AI Singapore (AISG) has set up an AI Speech Lab to develop a speech recognition system that could interpret and process the unique vocabulary used by Singaporeans – including Singlish and dialects – in daily conversations. This automatic speech transcribing system could be deployed at various government agencies and companies to assist frontline officers in acquiring relevant and actionable information while they focus on interacting with customers or service users to address their queries and concerns.

Established as part of our 100 Experiments (100E) Programme, this new speech lab marks AISG’s first major collaboration with multiple government agencies to design an AI system that could be deployed government-wide and in future, nation-wide. Discussions with companies to deploy the system are also underway. Located at the innovation 4.0 building within the National University of Singapore’s Kent Ridge campus, the lab is operational from 1 July 2018.

The new research lab is led by Professor Li Haizhou, a world-renowned expert in Speech, Text and Natural Language Processing from the National University of Singapore, and Associate Professor Chng Eng Siong from the Nanyang Technological University.

They recently developed the world’s first code-switch (mixed-lingual) speech recognition engine using deep learning technology. This technological breakthrough represents a paradigm shift in speech recognition and understanding. The AI Speech Lab will adopt this advanced speech recognition technology to benefit Singapore.

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