Stephen Hawking's famous computer-generated speech system just got a whole lot better. Intel redesigned the software he's been using to pick out his words for almost 20 years, and the new version comes complete with SwiftKey predictions.


Previously, Hawking's speech system was able to predict some characters here and there, but now with SwiftKey's algorithms at work, it can predict whole words. And it's not just some run-of-the-mill dictionary it's pulling from; the autopredict pulls from a library that was custom-made with a ton of Hawking's own language, from speeches and books to other unpublished documents. It's like how SwiftKey predictions can pull from your personal Gmail, but if your personal Gmail was like 10000 times smarter.

SwiftKey's SDK team lead Joe Osborne estimates that the new suggestions have enabled Hawking to speak roughly twice as fast, which would be a big improvement for anyone, especially one of the smartest men on the planet. I wonder what mysteries of the universe his predictions could uncover if he just let them run free. [Swiftkey via The Next Web]


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Image: AP