5 Things to Consider When Bringing Speech AI Into Your Business

Imagine a world where mundane tasks, consuming 60-70% of our work hours, vanish into thin air. According to a McKinsey report, thanks to its evolving grasp of natural language, Generative AI has the potential to make this dream a reality quite soon.

It’s no wonder that an increasing number of enterprises, even in traditional industries, like logistics or manufacturing, are eager to hop on this train and integrate speech AI into their workflows.

Speech-based technologies, such as automatic speech recognition (ASR), can perform all sorts of useful functions – from increasing safety by enabling workers to keep their eyes on the equipment instead of taking notes, to capturing otherwise lost spoken data. Particularly beneficial for global companies managing international teams is speech AI’s ability to understand multiple languages and foster communication across borders.

However, before embracing new technology, it’s essential to carefully consider its capabilities, applications, and potential challenges. Based on my hands-on experience guiding Fortune 50 companies through the implementation of speech AI tech at scale, here are the key considerations and tips to overcome potential challenges. 

Language Barriers 

For companies operating across borders, an important consideration is supporting languages beyond English. Navigating accents is an additional challenge; consider it to avoid unnecessary costs that could arise from nuanced differences in pronunciation.

Enhancing Accuracy

To maximize the utility of speech AI, it’s key to focus on improving language comprehension. Most speech AI can’t promise you a 100% accuracy level. Even giants like Google have an 84% accuracy rate, which means, if we do the math, 1 in 7 words can be incorrect. Meanwhile, even one word can be crucial for your business. 

Breaking Through Background Noise

Adopting speech AI in large enterprises demands careful considerations of the ambient noise environment. Even solutions with a high level of accuracy can let you down if they are too sensitive to loud background sounds. 

Adapting to Industry Lingo

Industries like logistics, manufacturing, and supply chain heavily rely on jargon and acronyms, constituting at least 50% of communication. This implies that grasping industry-specific lingo is paramount for ensuring tasks are completed safely and accurately. 

Tailored Solutions 

While universal technology serves its purpose, the implementation of speech AI in enterprises requires a customized approach. What could seamlessly work for a food manufacturing business, may not necessarily be adaptable for a fleet management company, which has its own set of language intricacies, accuracy requirements and noise considerations. 

Here are a few practical tips to address these concerns:

• Assess employee engagement: Keep employees involved in the decision-making process. Take into account all the languages they speak and gather their feedback after piloting speech AI solutions. 
• Monitor for accuracy: Continuously monitor performance and accuracy using jargon and acronyms that are specific for your industry to reach the comprehension level that would be sufficient for smooth functioning of your business. 
• Real-world testing: Thorough real-world testing is essential to ensure that the speech technology maintains optimal performance without your employees having to scream at the top of their lungs. It is particularly important in settings with noisy machinery. 
• Clearly define and measure success: Create detailed objectives and expected outcomes to assess whether the technology is performing as expected. To do this, keep in mind that speech AI has to be aligned with the intricacies of your business. Sometimes the ability to catch its unique language nuances can bring you more value than traditional core metrics. 

Final thoughts

In the landscape of adopting speech AI, it is imperative to establish precise success metrics and manage your expectations accordingly. Often overlooked considerations, such as the facilitation of hands-free processes and the reduction of manual reports, emerge as key indicators of increased enterprise productivity. 

Beyond these tangible benefits, the true value of this solution lies in its unique ability to gather otherwise lost data embedded in everyday speech. Speech AI acts as a catalyst, enabling teams to seamlessly interconnect data, glean vital insights, and discern significant trends. This, in turn, fosters a streamlined workflow and a global optimization of processes.

The adoption of speech AI not only reshapes operational paradigms in many traditional industries but also opens a gateway to a trove of untapped information, enhancing the ability of business leaders to make informed decisions.