Free Thinking

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Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

The ideas shaping our lives today - with artists and thinkers in debates and interviews.

The ideas shaping our lives today - with leading artists and thinkers in extended interview and debate.

Free Thinking: Speech, Voice, Accents and AI

Speech, Voice, Accents and AI

BBC Radio 4 - Free Thinking, Speech, Voice, Accents and AI

Sadie Ryan, Lynda Clark and Allison Koenecke talk about their research with Matthew Sweet.

A forerunner of Siri and Alexa? Matthew Sweet talks to Lynda Clark about her update of an 1846 talking machine and Allison Koenecke about AI. Sadie Ryan looks at accent prejudice.

From prejudice against accents to early attempts to create an artificial voice - Matthew Sweet is joined by the academics Sadie Ryan, Allison Koenecke and Lynda Clark. 

Sadie Ryan hosts a podcast Accentricity and is part of the Manchester Voices project team https://www.manchestervoices.org/project-team/ 
You can find a New Thinking podcast episode looking in more detail at that project https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07h30hm 

Lynda Clark is part of the InGAME (Innovation in Games and Media Enterprise) project at the University of Dundee. She's interested in interactive fiction and AI storytelling. She's been researching the experiments of Joseph Faber who created Euphonia in 1846 and created her own take working with games and digital experiences.

Allison Koenecke works in the Stanford University Computational Policy Lab and the Golub Capital Social Impact Lab 

You might also be interested in these programmes from the Free Thinking archives - all available to download as BBC Arts & Ideas podcasts 
What is Speech? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b1q2f3 
What is Good Listening? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000djtd
The pros and cons of swearing https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09c0r4m 
Language and Belonging https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006fh9 
AI and creativity: what makes us human? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005nml 
Robots https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08chbpc 

Producer: Luke Mulhall

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

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Free Thinking

Speech, Voice, Accents and AI

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