An introductory exploration of computer speech powered by machine learning and other AI technologies.

1. WHAT HAPPENS TO
BUSINESS WHEN COMPUTERS
CAN HAVE A NATURAL
CONVERSATION?

2. ● It’s ready for prime time
● It’s coming faster than you think
● It’s a gateway capability
● It’s changing everything
● It’s giving rise to the conversational U.I.
● It’s easier to use than you think
● Q&A
COMPUTER SPEECH
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3. ABOUT ME

4. STARTUPS & ENTERPRISE
chris.mohritz@10xeffect.com
● Lead a startup accelerator for web/mobile
● Also run corporate innovation events & consulting
● Using A.I. (machine learning) in business since 2009
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5. Philosopher
MY PERSPECTIVE
Sherpa
vs.
Learn & lead by doing. Learn & lead from theory.
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6. IT’S READY FOR PRIME TIME

7. WHAT IS COMPUTER SPEECH?
A.I.’s natural language processing (N.L.P.) capabilities
allows computers to understand intent from natural
conversational speech — just like we do as humans.

8. Natural language text.
AND TAKE YOUR PICK...
Natural language speech.

9. ON PAR WITH HUMANS
August, 2016 — “The researchers reported a word error
rate (WER) of 5.9% …about equal to that of people who
were asked to transcribe the same conversation...”
Note: This is just the ability to identify words.
blogs.microsoft.com/next/2016/10/18/historic-achievement-microsoft-researchers-reach-human-p
arity-conversational-speech-recognition

10. WHERE IS THE A.I.?
In the system’s ability to determine intent from
natural conversational language.
e.g. “Open the door, please.”
Compared to requiring specific words.
e.g. “open sesame”
Remember: A.I. is subjective

11. OR ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION...
Run a search on google.com…
“Show me a list of dog breeds — except beagles.”
Today, google.com will show you a bunch of beagles.
Conversely, a system with more advanced natural
language capabilities would understand the “except
beagles” statement and filter results accordingly.

12. EXAMPLES IN USE TODAY
● Nike (Facebook Messenger)
● Kia Niro (Facebook Messenger)
● North Face Personal Shopper (web)
● Sephora (Kik)
● H&M (Kik)
● Rhizabot (web, personal assistant)
● Domino’s Pizza (everywhere)
● PayPal (Slack)
● Kayak (Slack)
● Westworld Aeden (web)
● Kim Kardashian Bot (Bottr)
Aggregator: chatbottle.co
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the_bots_landscape.pagedemo.co

13. Computers have already matched — and are quickly
exceeding — human capabilities when it comes to
understanding natural language.
READY FOR PRIME TIME
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14. IT’S COMING FASTER
THAN YOU THINK

15. A good illustration of how
quickly these technologies
will integrate into our daily
lives.
WORLD’S SHORTEST ADOPTION
CURVE
youtube.com/watch?v=YvT_gqs5ETk

16. The technology is already at human parity.
Now it’s just a question of growing A.I.’s ability to
interpret the nuances in our natural speech.
FASTER THAN YOU THINK
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17. IT’S A GATEWAY CAPABILITY

18. OPENING THE FLOODGATES
Computer speech eliminates the learning curve
normally associated with adopting new technologies.
Giving computers the ability to interact with humans
on our own terms.
Which opens the door for A.I. to integrate into our
daily lives and empower our world in ways we’ve only
dreamed of.

19. Tay had a mimic
function that was
exploited by attackers.
A similar bot in China
(Xiaoice) has been very
successful.
AMPLIFYING OUR GOOD & BAD
theverge.com/2016/3/24/11297050/tay-microsoft-chatbot-racist

20. The ability to understand and communicate in natural
language allows A.I. to integrate seamlessly and
deeply into our daily lives.
Making it frictionless to use — and buy — new things.
GATEWAY FOR MAINSTREAM A.I.
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“A.I. could double annual economic growth rates in
2035”
~ Accenture

21. IT’S CHANGING EVERYTHING

22. EXPLOSION OF CHATBOTS
The new ‘app’ platform.
Google Home Amazon Echo Facebook Messenger

23. The conversational user
interface (U.I.) is a richer
experience —
compared to websites
and apps.
Allowing you to sense
people's emotions and
their urgency.
BOTS ARE EVERYWHERE
youtu.be/jC0I08qt5VU?t=9s

24. The conversational U.I.
is more comfortable,
more natural, and
allows a more insightful
interaction.
CONTROLLING EVERYTHING
youtu.be/7QM7izjVqug?t=26s

25. IN EVERY CORNER OF OUR LIVES
The remote starter
...A.I. style.
Great illustration of
how A.I. will make
existing stuff easier.
youtu.be/jCevYKNvixE

26. Control anything
through natural
voice speech.
Using Amazon Echo,
Google Home or any
other device.
LITERALLY...EVERYWHERE
youtu.be/Qzs75vxorII?t=3s

27. EVEN VOICE COMMERCE
news.starbucks.com/news/starbucks-debuts-voice-ordering
“Starbucks is taking the next
step toward evolving the
digital customer experience
by launching voice ordering
capabilities within the
Starbucks mobile iOS app
and the popular Amazon
Alexa platform.”

28. ON A PATH TO UBIQUITY
A.I.-powered speech will be in everything.
“The most profound technologies are those that
disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of
everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.”
~Mark Weiser
Scientific American, 1991
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29. IT’S GIVING RISE TO THE
CONVERSATIONAL U.I.

30. Computer speech
will be the primary
interface between
your brand and
your customer.
accenture.com/us-en/insight-artificial-intelligence-ui
PUT YOUR BEST VOICE FORWARD

31. Natural
Conversation
EVOLUTION OF THE U.I.
Typing Clicking Touch Gestures
Voice
Command
Think
Less Friction
Natural = A.I.

32. RISE OF THE CONVERSATIONAL
U.I.
Sorry websites....
Conversation will
replace a large chunk
of what we use
websites for today.
youtu.be/eBo5Xa61FAo?t=1m8s

33. “By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their
relationship with the enterprise
without interacting with a human.”
~ Gartner

34. CREATE A CUSTOM PERSONALITY
Just as we use graphical
design today to create
distinction, chatbots will
be defined by their
personalities.
nytimes.com/2017/04/03/business/media/its-not-their-pop-idol-but-a-bot-fans-cheer-anyway.html

35. CREATE A CUSTOM VOICE
lyrebird.ai/demo

36. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A SEC...
Chatbots can mimic personalities, and
We can copy anyone’s voice.
We are quickly moving into a world where you could
be having a conversation with your mother on the
phone — and not even realize that you’re speaking
with a (voice-enabled) chatbot.

37. RISE OF THE DIGITAL
SPOKESPERSON
“A.I. is making every
interface both simple and
smart…A.I. is poised to act
as the face of a company’s
digital brand and a key
differentiator.”
~ Accenture

38. Conversation is the most native U.I. to humans.
We’ve been using it since the dawn of time.
Now computers can do it too.
What kind of opportunities does that open up?
CONVERSATIONAL U.I. IS HERE
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39. IT’S EASIER THAN YOU THINK

40. START WITH COMMERCIAL APIs
Commercial Platform, Their Training Data
Commercial Platform, Your Training Data
In-House Platform, Your Training Data
A.I. M
aturity
← No training data required!

41. NOTHING NEW HERE
Most of the major cloud providers
have purpose-built A.I.-powered APIs.
Many have a free tier.
And they work exactly like
every other API you’re already using.

42. VOICE RECOGNITION APIs
Understanding spoken input.
● Amazon Lex
● Google Cloud Speech API
● IBM Watson Speech-to-Text
● Bing Speech API
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43. SPEECH SYNTHESIS APIs
Spoken output.
● Amazon Poly
● IBM Watson Text-to-Speech
● Ivona
● Bing Speech API
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44. Start with a pre-trained cloud API (no training data
required).
Most cloud providers offer a free tier. So start thinking
about the different ways to use computer speech.
Then just start testing and see what you can do.
EASIER THAN YOU THINK
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Don't get me wrong, there's an insane amount of complexity behind the scenes.
But fortunately, you need to know that stuff to take advantage of A.I.

45. NEXT STEPS

46. HOW-TO GUIDES
● Building Voice-Enabled Products With Amazon Alexa
● Cognitive Customer Engagement Using IBM Watson
● Harnessing Visual Data Using Google Cloud
● Building a Recommendation Engine Using Microsoft Azure
● Predicting Marketing Campaign Response Using Amazon Machine Learning
● Unleashing A.I.-Powered Conversation With IBM Watson
● Get into the Mind of Your Customer Using Google’s Sentiment Analysis Tools
● Discover Your Customers’ Deepest Feelings Using Microsoft Facial Recognition
● Give Your Products the Power of Speech Using Amazon Polly
● Computers Are Opening Their Eyes — and They’re Already Better at Seeing Than We Are
● How to Predict When You’re Going to Lose a Subscriber
● The Future of Business is a Digital Spokesperson — Let’s Build a Preview Using Microsoft’s Bot
Framework
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47. COMING UP...
2 A.I. Technologies that will have the greatest impact
● Computer Speech — 12:00-12:45 pm
● Computer Vision — 1:00-1:45 pm
2 A.I. Applications with the quickest R.O.I.
● Customer Engagement — 2:00-2:45 pm
● Personalization — 3:00-3:45 pm
JO
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48. ● Computer speech is ready for prime time
● It’s coming faster than you think
● It’s a gateway capability
● It’s changing everything
● It’s giving rise to the conversational U.I.
● It’s easier to use than you think
JOURNEY’S END
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49. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
chris.mohritz@10xeffect.com
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50. THANK YOU