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Voice AI issues – the clunky speech, weird pauses and inaccuracies — are being fixed, execs say

Voice AI issues – the clunky speech, weird pauses and inaccuracies — are being fixed, execs say

Voice AI technology has been around for years. But clunky voices, awkward pauses, and problems with accuracy have been roadblocks to widespread adoption. Many of those issues are now being resolved as more startups jump into the voice AI fray, Twilio and Zoom CEOs said recently at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology conference. Twilio CEO Khozema Shipchandler said that internal research shows customers would prefer to interact with voice AI as opposed to humans — especially in healthcare. That’s because customers feel there’s an “asymmetry in knowledge between the two sides” when it comes to human agents, and weird interactions disappear with virtual voice agents, Shipchandler said. “You don’t have these awkward pauses when you have these interactions take place between a human on one side and then a voice AI agent on the other side,” Shipchandler said. Latency — or the reaction time by voice AI agents — has historically been an issue, but that is now close to being resolved, Shipchandler said. Zoom has invested heavily in its voice AI agents , which are multilingual and have natural voices, said Zoom CEO Eric Yuan . The goal is to make sure those sometimes odd pauses go away. But real-world experiments have had mixed results. According to reports, restaurant chains such as Taco Bell and McDonald’s have stopped voice AI efforts at drive-throughs as the AI couldn’t interpret vocal orders correctly. The technology still has a long way to go, as it’s much harder to implement than text-based AI, said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates. “Voice, even with a single language like English, has a huge amount of variability, with accents — think southern drawl vs. New England ‘ahs’ — and even the same language meaning different things to different people,” he said. On the plus side, voice is a natural way to handle inquiries, as not everyone types well, Gold said. In areas such as food delivery, 35% of orders still come in over the phone — and voice AI agents can help make those interactions faster and more efficient. “The voice AI’s capacity is unlimited,” Shipchandler said. Thousands of venture-backed voice AI companies are now trying to solve these issues, he said. More people are now talking to ChatGPT instead of using text prompts, which shows the potential of voice AI, Yuan said. “I think pretty sure in the next two to three years, a lot of new solutions will be built upon voice technology,” he said. There are still risks involved in voice spoofing that will need to be resolved. If systems could identify a voice signature up front and then do light verification on the back end, customers can get right into the conversation and drive the interaction and outcomes. “You’ve got to take out spoofing, because that is a real thing,” Shipchandler said. Meanwhile, Zoom is working with chief information security officers and publishing papers on how to deploy its AI technologies. nice AIThere will be continuous improvement in voice AI over the next couple of years to eliminate many of the errors being discovered in voice-based AI systems, Gold said.  “That will improve especially as the data input to the models gets better,” he said.

Educators concerned as Govt u-turns on AI

Educators concerned as Govt u-turns on AI

Principals and educators say the Ministry of Education’s U-turn on artificial intelligence leaves too much up to them. The Ministry’s backtracked on last year’s stance - now saying it can be used to help teachers mark work more efficiently. Its new guidance urges caution and human oversight but discourages AI tools for complex content, internal NCEA assessments, or summative marking. Last year’s advice warned teachers against using AI to create or mark work, calling it potentially unfair and discriminatory. It comes as some Universities step away from using AI detection in assessment - like Massey. Canterbury University Associate Professor of Digital Education, Kathryn MacCallum said the latest guidance assumes too much understanding from teachers. “My worry is that we are putting a lot of responsibility on the teacher to take responsibility, to have oversight, to understand how to use these tools appropriately,” she said. MacCallum supports using AI for feedback, but not for final grades. “We shouldn’t ever give a mark that isn’t human, because that’s the final grade - and we need to be confident in that process.” She says it’s concerning the Government wants to expand AI use in NCEA assessments. “I presume it would be for assessments that are very clear when there is a correct or incorrect answer, but if they start to use it more widely into the the assessments that are becoming more judgment based, that’s when there’s a bit of concern.” Ministry Business Operations’ Manager, Claire Eden, said the change reflects growing public debate around AI in education. “Digital technologies are rapidly evolving, public discussion on the use of AI tools in education has intensified.” She said this guidance gives teachers practical direction in what is a fast-moving and uncertain space. Post Primary Teachers’ Association President Chris Abercrombie said the teacher–student relationship must remain central to marking. “AI must support - not replace - teachers’ professional judgements. Human oversight is essential.” He said students should also be told when AI is used. “PPTA has had feedback that young people do not necessarily want their work to be marked by a machine.” Abercrombie said the new guidance conflicts with Education Minister Erica Stanford’s recent suggestion that AI could mark all internal and external assessments by 2030. He said it’s confusing for teachers - especially since AI is discouraged for internal marking but being phased in for external assessments. The PPTA is now seeking clarification from the Minister, the Ministry and NZQA on how AI could accurately assess non-written work - such as media films or drama performances - and whether restrictions on AI use could limit how teachers design assessments. MacCallum adds the guidance raises more questions than it answers. “What specific tools are we talking about? What models sit behind them? How are outcomes validated? Assessment is complex - the policy needs to reflect that complexity.” Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education, social issues and general news. She joined Newstalk ZB in 2023, after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.