AI Speech Assistants: will they replace humans?

This presentation will review several AI speech assistants which have been trialled by a university language centre in Hong Kong. Students using the different systems included undergraduate and postgraduate and were from a range of disciplines and had a wide range of abilities. Students were surveyed about their use of the different tools, and then a smaller group joined focus group interviews. A small number of teachers were also interviewed about the different tools. Results showed that students were generally positive about the online AI speaking assistants, but still valued the chance to have speaking interactions with human teachers. Students noted that while at first online speech tools could appear impressive, they often lacked the depth of conversation that could take place with a human. On the other hand, in terms of repetitive practice and the ability to spot and correct errors, the AI tools were impressive. Results also show that while teachers were initially concerned about the AI tools, they are now more comfortable integrating the tools into their teaching and using them as a teaching assistant. The presentation will end with a look to the future and focus on tools which are currently not widely available in Hong Kong.