Speech and Language

The cluster is unique in its ability to conduct research across a broad spectrum, from computational models of language and human hearing, to commercially deployed automatic speech recognition (ASR) and text engineering systems.

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We address Speech and Language challenges through one of the strongest concentrations of researchers worldwide, comprising academics from our Natural Language Processing and Speech and Hearing groups

Centre for doctoral training logo - speech and language technologies

Our UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) Centre for Doctoral Training in Speech and Language Technologies and their applications will equip computer scientists with the skills, knowledge and confidence to tackle today’s evolving issues, and future challenges. 

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The Centre for Speech & Language Technology brings together expertise from researchers in the Department of Computer Science and Silicon Valley based company, VoiceBase, the leading provider of AI-powered speech analytics, to pioneer the future of speech recognition and speech analytics

Research groups

Natural Language Processing

Speech and Hearing

News and Highlights

A graphic explaining that 20 per cent of women journalists surveyed in a study said they have been attacked or abused offline

Towards an Early Warning System for Violence Against Women Journalists

Researchers from the Department are part of a major UK-government funded research project to work towards an early warning system to help detect, predict, and ultimately prevent violence against women journalists

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Global disinformation report calls for internet companies to fact-check all political content

Internet companies should apply fact-checking to all political content published by politicians, political parties and their affiliates to help tackle the spread of disinformation, according to a new report.

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AI can predict Twitter users likely to spread disinformation before they do it

A new artificial intelligence-based algorithm that can accurately predict which Twitter users will spread disinformation before they actually do it has been developed by researchers from the University of Sheffield.

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Our Impact

Combating disinformation and abuse in social media

Sheffield’s big data analytics has probed the veracity, sentiment, and sharing patterns of social media posts and exposed the ways social media can be used and abused to shape opinions about significant political events, such as elections or the Brexit referendum. The methods and findings have been used to promote truth in public discourse, underpinning UK and international policy responses to misinformation and the misuse of social media in relation to various issues.

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Finding our voice: the rise and impact of voice recognition technology

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) for conversational speech is a challenging research problem, particularly in the context of adverse acoustic conditions such as over the telephone or in multi-party meetings. Researchers in the department have developed, with industry, state-of-the-art ASR tools. 

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Machine translation

Machine translation (MT) is inexpensive, fast, and accessible, but it lacks the reliability of human translators. Sheffield research on quality estimation (QE) in MT has enabled the identification of the likelihood of error, allowing MT to be used with greater confidence and underpinning impacts for multiple organisations.