Florian Leibert, a tech leader and software engineer, discusses speech processing, which is crucial for applications like voice recognition and automated speech recognition. Siri, an intelligent assistant developed from a DARPA project, utilizes speech processing to convert spoken language into text, process commands, and respond to user inquiries both locally and through cloud servers. This technology enables smartphones to effectively interact with users using verbal communication.

1. An Example of
Speech
Processing
Program – Siri
Florian Leibert

2. Introduction
• A member of the Association for Computing Machinery, Florian "Flo"
Leibert is a former tech leader and software engineer at Twitter. Florian
Leibert has also worked on different machine learning projects,
including speech processing.
A branch of computer science, speech processing is a form of digital
signal processing that involves the conversion of speech signals into a
digital representation that can serve a wide range of purposes. Speech
processing has proven useful in many areas, including automated
speech recognition, language identification, and digital speech coding. It
is the intersection of natural language processing and digital signal
processing. Speaker verification, mood identification, voice dialing, voice
navigation, and call center automation are some useful applications of
speech processing.
The combination of speech processing technology and neuro-linguistic
programming has made it possible for intelligent devices like
smartphones to interact with their users through verbal communication.

3. Siri
• Siri, a built-in intelligent assistant, is a common example of voice
recognition service available on many Apple mobile devices and
desktops serving interactive user functions, including voice
recognition and navigation. Initially, Siri was a project of Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, with the main goal
of providing personal assistant for members of the United States
military.
Siri makes use of onboard microphones to convert user’s speech
into signals that are further are further transcribed to text by
Automatic Speech Recognition. After the speech is transcribed to
text, Siri translates the text into parsed text and evaluates it
locally. If the request of the transcribed text cannot be handled
on the device, Siri will direct the request to web servers in the
cloud for processing. Once the request is processed, Siri gets back
to the user with a verbal response or displays the requested
information on the screen.