INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGettyImage caption
Google is hoping to end poor quality audio during video calls.
Google
is hoping to end low quality video calls by deploying artificial intelligence to "fill in" audio gaps caused by bad connections
WaveNetEQ works by using a library of speech data to realistically continue short segments of conversations
The AI is trained to produce mostly syllable sounds, and can fill gaps of up to 120 milliseconds
It comes as the use of video calls has become increasingly important during the corornavirus crisis.When making a call over the internet,
data is split into small chunks called packets
A poor connection can mean these packets reach the other party in the wrong order and at the wrong time, or cause them to be lost entirely
This can result in a significant decline in call quality
Google says 99% of calls made using its Duo app experience some form of audio-related issue
Of these calls, 20% lose more than 3% of their total audio, while 10% lose almost a tenth
WaveNetHQ works by specifically creating speech data to fill the gaps made by drops in audio.The AI has been trained using the voices of 100
individuals in 48 languages to enable it to learn the general characteristics of a human voice, regardless of dialect
Douglas Crawford, cyber security researcher at ProPrivacy, says that Duo's end-to-end encryption should help alleviate any concerns about
"As calls on the platform are secured using end-to-end encryption, outsourcing AI-processing of missing packets in order to reduce audio
jitters was simply not an option for developers," he told the TheIndianSubcontinent."Google solved this by performing all the processing on
your device so that no data is ever transmitted to a third party
The system is currently available on Google's Pixel 4 smartphone - the company says it plans to expand to more Android devices later this
In 2018, Google divided critics when it unveiled artificial intelligence software that books appointments over the phone on behalf of users
by making realistic voice-based calls
However, the feature is currently only available in the US
