Speech Recognition Technology: The Past, Present, and Future

• Machine learning has provided the majority of speech recognition breakthroughs in this century. Google combined the latest technology with the power of cloud-based computing to share data and improve the accuracy of machine learning algorithms.
• This culminated in the launch of the Google Voice Search app for iPhone in 2008, It was Siri, Apple’s entry into the voice recognition market, that first captured the public’s imagination, however.
• After Siri, Microsoft launched Cortana, Amazon launched Alexa.

Smartphones were originally the sole place of residence for digital assistants like Siri and Cortana, but the concept has been decentralized over the past few years.

At present, the focus is primarily on voice-activated home speakers, but this is essentially a Trojan horse strategy. By taking pride of place in a consumer’s home, these speakers are the gateway to the proliferation of smart devices that can be categorized under the broad ‘Internet of Things’ umbrella.

First-party Hardware: Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Fire TV Stick, Kindle.

Digital Assistant: Alexa

Usage Statistics:

• 75% of all smart speakers sold to date are Amazon devices 
• The average Alexa user spends 18 minutes a month interacting with the device, compared to just five minutes for Google Home
• There are now over 25,000 skills available for Alexa.

First-party Hardware: Google Home, Google Home Mini, Google Home Max, Pixelbook, Pixel smartphones, Pixel Buds, Chromecast, Nest smart home products.

Digital Assistant: Google Assistant

Usage Statistics:

• Google Home has a 24% share of the US smart speaker market
• There are now over 1,000 Actions for Google Home
• Google Assistant is available on over 225 home control brands and more than 1,500 devices 
• The most popular Google Assistant apps are games, followed closely by home control applications 

Hardware: Apple HomePod, iPhone, MacBooks, AirPods

Digital Assistant: Siri

Usage Statistics:

• 42.5% of smartphones have Apple’s Siri digital assistant installed 
• 41.4 million monthly active users in the U.S. as of July 2017, down 15% on the previous year 
• 19% of iPhone users engage with Siri at least daily.

Hardware: Harman/kardon Invoke speaker, Windows smartphones, Microsoft laptops

Digital Assistant: Cortana

Usage Statistics:

• 5.1% of smartphones have the Cortana assistant installed
• Cortana now has 133 million monthly users 
• 25% of Bing searches are by voice.

We are still some distance from realizing the true potential of speech recognition technology. This applies both to the sophistication of the technology itself and to its integration into our lives. The current digital assistants can interpret speech very well, but they are not the conversational interfaces that the technology providers want them to be. Moreover, speech recognition remains limited to a small number of products.

The rate of progress, compared to the earliest forays into speech recognition, is really quite phenomenal nonetheless.