How does AI listen?
Humans naturally convert sound into meaning in a fraction of a second.
But to an AI, our voice isn't a sentence yet.
It's just a stream of numbers representing sound waves.
Before AI can respond, it must convert sound into information it can understand.
Step 1: Capture sound-
When you speak, your microphone records tiny changes in air pressure and converts them into a digital audio signal.At this point, the computer still doesn't know what you said.
It only has audio.
Step 2: Detect speech-
Humans naturally know when someone starts or stops talking.
AI needs a separate system called Voice Activity Detection (VAD).
Its job to detect:Is someone speaking?
Or is this silence, breathing, or background noise?
Step 3: Convert speech into text-
Once speech is detected, it is converted into text using Speech-to-Text (STT).Step 4: Understand Intent-
Words alone aren't enough.
Consider these two sentences:"Book a table."
"Book a flight."The word book is the same.
The meaning is completely different.
The AI uses a Large Language Model (LLM) to understand your intent using your words, previous conversation, and available context.
Step 5: Generate Response-
A Text-to-Speech (TTS) model converts it into natural-sounding speech.You hear the answer as audio instead of reading it on a screen.
How does AI listen?
Humans naturally convert sound into meaning in a fraction of a second.
But to an AI, our voice isn't a sentence yet.
It's just a stream of numbers representing sound waves.
Before AI can respond, it must convert sound into information it can understand.
Step 1: Capture sound-
When you speak, your microphone records tiny changes in air pressure and converts them into a digital audio signal.
At this point, the computer still doesn't know what you said.
It only has audio.
Step 2: Detect speech-
Humans naturally know when someone starts or stops talking.
AI needs a separate system called Voice Activity Detection (VAD).
Its job to detect:Is someone speaking?
Or is this silence, breathing, or background noise?
Step 3: Convert speech into text-
Once speech is detected, it is converted into text using Speech-to-Text (STT).Step 4: Understand Intent-
Words alone aren't enough.
Consider these two sentences:"Book a table."
"Book a flight."The word book is the same.
The meaning is completely different.
The AI uses a Large Language Model (LLM) to understand your intent using your words, previous conversation, and available context.
Step 5: Generate Response-
A Text-to-Speech (TTS) model converts it into natural-sounding speech.You hear the answer as audio instead of reading it on a screen.