{"id":50,"date":"2021-01-31T22:04:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T05:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/?p=50"},"modified":"2021-01-31T22:57:44","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T05:57:44","slug":"task-3-voice-to-text-task","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/2021\/01\/31\/task-3-voice-to-text-task\/","title":{"rendered":"Task 3: Voice-to-Text Task"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cThis sentence is a time machine…the marvelous technology that allows the past to speak directly to the future\u2026it is writing.\u201d<\/i> (Gnanadesikan, 2011, p.1.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

This week\u2019s task takes me back in time as I tell, and subsequently \u201cwrite,\u201d the story of a childhood habit I referred to as \u201ctelling stories.\u201d\u00a0 The story is \u201cwritten\u201d through two voice-to-text technologies, and an analysis of the results follow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gnanadesikan (2011) states that \u201c…writing…records language, but not actual speech\u201d (p.9). \u00a0 This week\u2019s Voice-to-Text task asked us to record our speech using tools that purportedly translate speech into written form.\u00a0 Some might not consider the product generated by voice-to-text as \u201cwriting,\u201d as it follows a process of thought-to-speech-to-documentation, as opposed to the more direct, traditional process of thought-to-documentation.\u00a0 However, in a world of ever-increasing automation, where teenagers like my daughter no longer know how to perform cursive handwriting, it could be argued that voice-to-text could be the \u201cwriting\u201d of the future.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Image from: http:\/\/www.businesscommunicationarticles.com\/difference-between-oral-and-written-communication\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In what ways does oral storytelling differ from written storytelling?<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

Written storytelling demands more attention to the intricacies of grammatical correctness than oral storytelling.\u00a0 It is not able to rely on contextual cues provided through oral storytelling\u2019s variations in tone, pace, volume, etc.\u00a0 Compared with in-person, oral storytelling, written storytelling is restricted in its ability to adapt its messaging in response to the real-time reactions of an audience.\u00a0 The oral storyteller might also be considered to be more present than a written storyteller, which in turn can influence the experience of the story listener.<\/span><\/p>\n

The materiality of written storytelling lends itself to quality control when a story is widely disseminated.\u00a0 As the children\u2019s game of \u201ctelephone\u201d illustrates, an oral message loses more and more of its original content as it is repeated.\u00a0 Written storytelling assures a storyteller that the same words will be used to convey the story, no matter where it is read.\u00a0 Despite this increased sense of control over the message, written storytelling may afford greater interpretation for a reader.\u00a0 With the reduced physical presence of the written storyteller, a reader may be freer to create their own constructs in response to the story.<\/span><\/p>\n

For this Voice-to-Text Task, I played the role of oral storyteller and then editor of the resulting voice-to-text output.\u00a0 If I were to try to tell the same story in written form within the five-minute limit, I don\u2019t think I would have reached the end of the story.\u00a0 The time required for word selection and grammatical correctness is greater than the time required to verbalize a story.\u00a0 The material permanence of the written word adds a layer of cautious care as we anticipate our work being interpreted and critiqued by others. \u00a0 The voice-to-text task demonstrated that such care might also enhance my oral storytelling.\u00a0 The efficiency of oral storytelling can be compromised if we are soft-spoken or sloppy with our diction.\u00a0 Words that were missed or misunderstood by the voice-to-text technology, but were perceived as having been communicated by me as the storyteller, provided evidence of this potential downside of oral communication.\u00a0 Additional care could have also resulted in more effective word choice and organization, a process that is more easily achieved with the written process.\u00a0 I would hope that a written version of the story I shared would not include a series of run-on sentences and informal, conversational phrases such as \u201cpretty much.\u201d\u00a0 As I write this, however, I realize that I am judging the \u201cwriting\u201d of my voice-to-text story based on the indoctrinated standards from my education.\u00a0 Is it fair to say that those standards always apply?\u00a0 Who deems a sentence as a \u201crun-on\u201d or a phrase as \u201cinformal\u201d?\u00a0 This leads to consideration of what might be considered as \u201cwrong\u201d or \u201cmistakes\u201d in the the output of voice-to-text technology.\u00a0 It also begs reflection regarding the relationship between language and power.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is \u201cwrong\u201d in the text?\u00a0 What is \u201cright\u201d?<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

In contemplating \u201cright\u201d versus \u201cwrong,\u201d the judicial system comes to mind.\u00a0 In courtrooms where matters of \u201ctruth\u201d are intended to prevail, accurate documentation is critical.\u00a0 Yet, even with the concept of voice-to-text as practiced through \u201c…dictation and courtroom stenography, much information about the actual speech is lost, such as intonation and emotional content\u201d (Gnanadeskian, 2011, p. 9.)<\/span><\/p>\n

For something to be considered \u201cwrong\u201d or a \u201cmistake,\u201d there has to be some manner of evaluation or judgement.\u00a0 This can involve a power dynamic where authority is given to deem something as \u201cwrong\u201d or a \u201cmistake.\u201d\u00a0 For the purpose of this exercise, this power resides most with education.\u00a0 Indeed, Gnanadeskian (2011) notes, \u201cwriting is associated with education, and education with wealth and power\u201d(p. 5.)\u00a0 Further, Goody (1977, 1987) views writing as a \u201ctechnology of the intellect\u201d (Schmandt-Besserat, 2009, p.20.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on the power (and limitations) of my education, I will review the mistakes and deviations from conventions of written English made by two voice-to-text technologies that I used to record two unscripted renditions of my story.\u00a0 <\/span>I first told the story to Otter.ai, a technology that I have used in the past.\u00a0 When it appeared that the Otter.ai recording didn\u2019t work, I re-told the story to Google Doc\u2019s Voice Typing.\u00a0 Later, I discovered the Otter.ai recording had indeed worked, so I have included both documentations for comparative purposes.\u00a0 Otter.ai includes punctuation and grammatical capabilities beyond those offered by Google Doc\u2019s Voice Typing feature.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cTELLING STORIES<\/em>\u201d <\/b><\/h5>\n
As documented by Otter.ai<\/h5>\n

This is the story of a little secret. I had when I was a child. Actually, it lasted into my adolescence, actually, if I’m, to be honest. I used to have a favorite pastime that I referred to as telling stories.<\/span><\/p>\n

I would<\/span><\/p>\n

walk around a room in circles, waving pencil about. As I talked about imaginary people, and relationships that were inspired by images of people in the Sears catalog, which I’m now dating myself to to reference. And it was important that the pencil be unsharpened, basically unused. And there was never any writing involved in this storytelling. It was just me talking and creating and talking. I usually did this in the privacy of my home, and my parents and younger sibling would know to leave me alone when I was telling my stories. But there were some times that I would talk to complete strangers about it. I recall one particular moment when I was about three or four sitting outside of my home on the sidewalk. And I was talking away about our neighbor’s business. He was self employed electrician of some sort and I had taken my inspiration in that story from the, the logos and pictures on his work truck. So this is all really interesting<\/span><\/p>\n

and<\/span><\/p>\n

interesting because I’ve always liked to talk but I’ve also always liked to write, but this part of my creating never had a written component to it. I love to write so much that there was a time in about grade four that my teacher had asked me to answer some question on the blackboard. And I proceeded to cover every inch of Blackboard that was in that classroom which I believe spanned three quarters of the wall space. So writing was not a foreign topic for me, but there was something really precious and personal and special about this world that I would inhabit. Again, inspired by characters in a, in a catalogue, like magazine images, where I would make up fantasy lives and an act, the roles of every character. Within those fantasy lives. I don’t really know why the pencil was an important piece of it but it really was there was something about the weight of it in my hand I can remember how different it would feel if I didn’t have that unsharpened pencil. And it’s not like I used it as a microphone, it was just some extension of me as I would wave and about talking, developing dreaming and creating. Now there is one time though I, I should confess to, there was a large family I was creating in my storytelling and I was get losing track of some of the character names so sorry mom and dad but there was a time where I actually wrote the characters names on the wallpaper in our formal front room. Fortunately I did use pencil for that purpose. So, I must have had a sharpened pencil for that storytelling session. So there you go, I have been a storyteller, for as long as I can remember, I’ve never been able to get back to that wandering around the room creation kind of space I have tried it. But I will always hold it as a special part of my childhood.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cTELLING STORIES<\/em>\u201d<\/b><\/h5>\n
As documented by Google Doc’s Voice Typing<\/h5>\n

I’m going to share secret from my childhood secret about a favourite pastime of mine that truth be told actually extended into my adolescence the secret past time I called telling stories come from a very young age as long as I can remember really I would find myself a quiet room Sears catalogue which dates me little bit I know and an unsharpened pencil one of those that had an eraser on it yellow with a red eraser and had to be one like that and it needed to be on sharpened because I would wave it around in my hands as I talked and told stories I would create imaginary worlds inspired by photos of people models in Sears catalogues I would create characters and lives and jobs and relationships families everything was fair game and and I would tell stories about them for hours on end my family members my parents and my younger sibling with no to give me space when I was telling my stories fortunately they didn’t shame me for it ever which I appreciate and while I did spend most of my storytelling time in the privacy of my own home I do recall a time when I was about three or four and decided to tell one of my stories to complete stranger walking by on the sidewalk I was sitting on the sidewalk outside of my home and I was talking away about the electric company that our neighbour had his work truck I guess he was an electrician was in his driveway and I was making up all kinds of exciting stories about what his business was all about so there were Times Obviously where I would diverge from the Sears catalogue source of inspiration but most of the time that was my good old standby and I would leave all kinds of tales of an interesting lives from that thick collection of pages and it’s not like I didn’t like writing none of these stories were ever written by me except for the time that I was having a hard time keeping track of all the family members for this one story and so sorry Mom and Dad light actually wrote on the good wallpaper of our formal dining room so I could remember but fortunately I have a broken pencil so that was okay yeah I never wrote any of these stories I love to write in fact I love to write so much that one time in about grade for when my teacher asked me to answer a question on the Blackboard I proceeded to cover every inch of Blackboard in that classroom which has ever called pretty much constituted Three-quarters of the wall space in that classroom so I enjoyed writing but this special kind of telling stories was exempt from that particular activity there was something special and unique about the freestyling of dreaming and creating true words in the moment with just the inspiration of some photos an unsharpened pencil I have tried to recreate that special creativity in my adult hears in moments when I was struggling to solve a complex problem when I thought that creativity might help me to Muppet solution and unfortunately it has never returned so it will just remain a special part of my childhood but a time that is well connected to my Lifelong Love of words and particularly communication in the context of South development and relationships .<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Image from: https:\/\/www.worthpoint.com\/worthopedia\/1978-sears-catalog-fall-winter-1892789202<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
What are the most common \u201cmistakes\u201d and why are they considered \u201cmistakes\u201d?<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

The \u201cwriting\u201d demonstrated in this voice-to-text task exemplified the notion of \u201c…writing as once-removed, a derivative of speech…\u201d as suggested in the perspectives of Ong, Goody, Havelock, Plato and Socrates (Haas, 2013, p.12.)\u00a0 While one of the voice-to-text tools was superior in capturing grammatical elements and including fewer errors, neither tool could convey the story as effectively as told in oral form.\u00a0 The experience of this task contradicts Ong\u2019s (2002) observation that\u201c…writing from the beginning did not reduce orality but enhanced it\u2026\u201d (p. 9.)<\/span><\/p>\n

A focus on phonology instead of word context might have led to errors in documentation.\u00a0 For example, there was confusion with homonyms, with the word \u201cfor\u201d being recorded when it should have been the number \u201cfour,\u201d and the word \u201cno\u201d being recorded when it should have been \u201cknow.\u201d\u00a0 In the latter case, this error might have resulted from an error in the preceding word as well (e.g., the software captured \u201cwith no,\u201d\u00a0 when it should have been \u201cwould know.\u201d)\u00a0 The voice-to-text technology also misheard some words.\u00a0 For example, it heard \u201ctrue\u201d instead of \u201cthrough,\u201d \u201chears\u201d instead of \u201cyears,\u201d and \u201cSouth\u201d instead of \u201cself.\u201d\u00a0 These errors are considered to be mistakes because they do not accurately match the words that were spoken.\u00a0 As such, they could create confusion and misunderstanding\u00a0 for the reader.<\/span><\/p>\n

Google Doc\u2019s Voice Typing software missed capitalizations for new sentences, and added odd capitalizations for some words (e.g., \u201c Time Obviously,\u201d \u201cBlackboard\u201d and \u201cLifelong Love.\u201d)\u00a0 It is possible that these capitalizations were the result of a pause in my speech, suggesting a new sentence. Some of these occurred with the Otter.ai technology as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The Otter.ai software seemed to capture \u201cdisjointed\u201d moments in my \u201cthought-to-speech\u201d process, placing one word on a separate line, likely as I processed and paused.\u00a0 For example:<\/span><\/p>\n

…inspiration in that story from the, the logos and pictures on his work truck. So this is all really interesting<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

and<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

interesting because I’ve always liked to talk but I’ve also always liked to write, but this part of my creating…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Despite its ability to add punctuation, the Otter.ai voice-to-text technology sometimes \u201cover-punctuated,\u201d turning one sentence into two, resulting in grammatical error.\u00a0 While Otter.ai separated run-on sentences, this created multiple sentences beginning that began with the word \u201cand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rules between the two technologies were sometimes inconsistent.\u00a0 For example, Google Doc\u2019s Voice Typing hyphenated \u201cthree-quarters,\u201d while Otter.ai did not.\u00a0 \u00a0Google Doc used the Canadian\/British spelling of words such as “neighbour” and “catalogue” while Otter.ai included American spelling.<\/span><\/p>\n

I found it interesting to notice that I was less compelled to edit the punctuated version provided by Otter.ai, even though I winced at the clunkiness of my spoken word.\u00a0 My need to edit and \u201csanitize\u201d was much stronger when reviewing the punctuation-less version provided by Google Doc\u2019s Voice Typing.<\/span><\/p>\n

In what I assume were especially \u201cmumbly moments,\u201d Google Doc\u2019s Voice Typing software generated interesting results.\u00a0 For example, when I said \u201c\u2026creativity might help me to <\/span>come up with a<\/b> solution,\u201d the software recorded: \u201c\u2026creativity might help me to <\/span>Muppet <\/b>solution.\u201d This may be indicative of the cultural biases inherent in AI solutions, as I don\u2019t expect that Jim Henson\u2019s Muppets are widely recognized in all corners of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

When language is materialized through writing, it can be vetted and controlled in accordance with the norms and standards of existing power structures.\u00a0 For example, Schmandt-Besserat (2009) describes how, until the early 20th century, the Chinese civil service influenced writing standards such that \u201c…all dialects of Chinese were written in a literacy dialect that dated to the late Old Chinese period, about 1100 BCE to 100 CE.\u00a0 This meant that literate Chinese wrote in a way they themselves did not speak\u201d (p. 18.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Voice-to-text technologies make predictions based on the vast volumes of data extracted from other technologies such as Google Analytics.\u00a0 These predictions are inherently biased as they draw from data that is already subject to biases such as racism and sexism.\u00a0 Further, not all cultures contribute equally to these data sets, as there is unequal access to Internet technologies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The influence of power structures in language is even found in the animal world.\u00a0 For example, researchers in Berlin recently discovered different dialects among naked mole-rats (McDonald, 2021.)\u00a0 Dr. Alison Barker and her team identified 20 different vocalizations in their analysis of the rats\u2019 speech sounds.\u00a0 They also interpreted that the naked mole-rats function under authoritative rule with limited freedom of expression.\u00a0 Specifically, Barker and her team found that when the queen of a colony was \u201cmurdered\u201d, the cohesiveness of the colony\u2019s dialect was lost.\u00a0 The translating technology the team had used to decipher the rats communications was no longer able to discern dialect.\u00a0 Once a new queen\u2019s rule was established, and \u201corder was restored\u201d, the dialect returned.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Image from: https:\/\/www.mdc-berlin.de\/news\/press\/naked-mole-rats-speak-dialect<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
What would\u2019ve been different if it were scripted?<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

The unscripted, voice-to text speech documentation revealed through this task highlights the importance of punctuation.\u00a0 Punctuation helps to ensure written works are easy to read and understand.\u00a0 In addition to the inclusion of punctuation and grammatical correctness, a scripted approach would have considered the pre-existing knowledge level and interests of the intended audience.\u00a0 It would have been better organized to clearly convey relevant points in an easy-to-follow format.\u00a0 It would have also eliminated unnecessary words and details that could cause a listener to lose interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

A scripted version would have lost an aspect of authenticity, though.\u00a0 There is something compelling about the raw vulnerability of unrehearsed and unscripted content.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ong (2002) writes \u201c….without writing, human consciousness cannot achieve its fuller potentials, cannot produce other beautiful and powerful creations\u201d (p. 14.)\u00a0 If I had documented the <\/span>\u201ctelling stories\u201d experiences that I shared in this exercise during my childhood, would I be better able to access that \u201cspecial\u201d time again?\u00a0 Would it help me to reclaim creativity that could lead to achieving fuller potential?\u00a0 Without writing, I\u2019m not able to answer this.\u00a0 I cannot benefit from the \u201ctime machine\u201d of writing as so eloquently described by Gnanadeskian (2011.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo by Frank Vessia on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

References:<\/p>\n

Gnanadesikan, A.E. (2009). The First IT Revolution. In <\/span>The writing revolution: Cuneiform to the internet<\/span><\/i> (pp 1-12). John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002\/9781444304671<\/span><\/p>\n

Haas, C. (2013). The Technology Question. In <\/span>Writing technology: Studies on the materiality of literacy (pp. 3-23).<\/span><\/i> Routledge. doi: 10.4324\/9780203811238<\/span><\/p>\n

McDonald, B (2021, January 30). <\/span>Naked mole rats learn their \u2018language\u2019 from their queens and speak in dialect <\/span><\/i>[Radio broadcast]. CBC. https:\/\/cbc.ca\/listen\/live-radio\/1-51\/clip\/15821769 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ong, Walter, J. Taylor & Francis eBooks \u2013 CRKN, & CRKN MiL Collection. (2002).\u00a0Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word<\/em>. New York; London: Routledge.<\/p>\n

Schmandt-Besserat, D. (2009).\u00a0 Origins and Forms of Writing.\u00a0 In Bazerman, C. (Ed.) <\/span>Handbook of research on writing:\u00a0 History, society, school, individual, text. <\/span><\/i>Routledge. doi:10.4324\/9781410616470<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis sentence is a time machine…the marvelous technology that allows the past to speak directly to the future\u2026it is writing.\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74950,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74950"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}