Today Tom is sitting down with Dr. Trish Scanlon, CEO and founder of SoapBox Labs. Dr. Scanlon is one of the foremost leaders in voice technology — especially with regards to children’s voices. She has over 20 years of experience working in speech recognition technology, including Bell Laboratories and IBM. In 2018, Dr. Scanlon was named one of Forbes’ top 50 “Women in Tech.” In 2020, she was ranked sixth of seventeen global visionaries in voice by industry-leading publication, Voicebot.ai.
Listen in as Tom and Dr. Scanlon discuss the possibilities of voice technologies, why children pose a unique challenge in the field, and how tech can be keeping ethics and well-being at the center. Don’t miss out on this A.I. deep-dive on learning, voice tech, and creating more access for learners with differences.
Key Takeaways:
[:08] About today’s episode.
[:54] Tom welcomes Dr. Scanlon to the podcast.
[1:12] How did Dr. Scanlon become interested in voice technology?
[2:32] Was Dr. Scanlon able to find advisors 20 years ago in voice technology?
[3:50] Which machine learning tools are most useful in speech recognition?
[5:24] When did Dr. Scanlon recognize that speech recognition was particularly challenging for children?
[8:20] The origin story of Dr. Scanlon’s company, SoapBox Labs.
[10:35] Dr. Scanlon explains the service that SoapBox Labs offers its clients.
[12:37] About the Turnaround for Children Toolbox.
[13:17] The current and planned applications for voice recognition, speech therapy, and voice tech in learning and development in the classroom.
[15:53] How they manage varying accents in speech technology.
[19:06] Discussing the challenges around the biases in voice recognition technology.
[21:45] Other categories of assisted tech that Dr. Scanlon is excited about with regards to how they can better serve and create more access for learners with differences.
[23:53] Is the next generation growing up as voice technology natives? How should we be managing or navigating this next generation of youth growing up as voice natives?
[27:04] What Dr. Scanlon thinks students and teachers should know about machine learning today, as well as how and where we should be introducing this topic in school.
[28:53] Why is Dublin a hot spot for ed-tech startups? Why have they become a world leader in technology?
[31:13] How does Dr. Scanlon continue her learning?
[32:26] Tom thanks Dr. Scanlon for joining the podcast.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Toolbox | Turnaround for Children
Getting Smart Podcast Ep. 258: “Flynn Coleman on a Human Algorithm”
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