Clear2Connect Urges Standards on Automated Speech Recognition Services
The FCC should conduct further testing and adopt standards on exclusively automated speech recognition (ASR) IP captioned telephone service (CTS) before allowing providers to receive telephone relay service funds, said a coalition representing advocates for the deaf and hard of…
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hearing. ASR, which doesn’t involve human communications assistants, would provide a lower quality service, said the Clear2Connect Coalition in a Wednesday posting in docket 13-24. Clear2Connect raised concerns that the platforms that would provide ASR-only services “are companies that have very problematic histories when it comes to protecting privacy.” If the companies aren’t required to account for “implicit bias,” taking into consideration such things as accents and vernaculars, “they will develop engines that perform less well for calls involving individuals who are not white, educated, upper-middle-class, native-born Americans,” it said. The coalition recommended the FCC develop IP CTS standards based on advice from the Disability Advisory Committee, consumers groups and industry. Clear2Connect includes the Hearing Loss Association of America, National Association of the Deaf, National Disability Rights Network and Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.