Impaired Prosodic Processing but Not Hearing Function Is Associated with an Age-Related Reduction in AI Speech Recognition
Background/Objectives: Voice artificial intelligence (AI) technology is becoming increasingly common. Recent work indicates that middle-aged to older adults are less able to identify modern AI speech compared to younger adults, but the underlying causes are unclear. Methods: The current study with y...
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MDPI AG
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Audiology Research |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4349/15/1/14 |
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| author | Björn Herrmann Mo Eric Cui |
| author_facet | Björn Herrmann Mo Eric Cui |
| author_sort | Björn Herrmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background/Objectives: Voice artificial intelligence (AI) technology is becoming increasingly common. Recent work indicates that middle-aged to older adults are less able to identify modern AI speech compared to younger adults, but the underlying causes are unclear. Methods: The current study with younger and middle-aged to older adults investigated factors that could explain the age-related reduction in AI speech identification. Experiment 1 investigated whether high-frequency information in speech—to which middle-aged to older adults often have less access due sensitivity loss at high frequencies—contributes to age-group differences. Experiment 2 investigated whether an age-related reduction in the ability to process prosodic information in speech predicts the reduction in AI speech identification. Results: Results for Experiment 1 show that middle-aged to older adults are less able to identify AI speech for both full-bandwidth speech and speech for which information above 4 kHz is removed, making the contribution of high-frequency hearing loss unlikely. Experiment 2 shows that the ability to identify AI speech is greater in individuals who also show a greater ability to identify emotions from prosodic speech information, after accounting for hearing function and self-rated experience with voice-AI systems. Conclusions: The current results suggest that the ability to identify AI speech is related to the accurate processing of prosodic information. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9c759ee8de034c0eaa798373550aa194 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2039-4349 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Audiology Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-9c759ee8de034c0eaa798373550aa1942025-08-20T02:44:33ZengMDPI AGAudiology Research2039-43492025-02-011511410.3390/audiolres15010014Impaired Prosodic Processing but Not Hearing Function Is Associated with an Age-Related Reduction in AI Speech RecognitionBjörn Herrmann0Mo Eric Cui1Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, 3560 Bathurst St., North York, ON M6A 2E1, CanadaRotman Research Institute, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, 3560 Bathurst St., North York, ON M6A 2E1, CanadaBackground/Objectives: Voice artificial intelligence (AI) technology is becoming increasingly common. Recent work indicates that middle-aged to older adults are less able to identify modern AI speech compared to younger adults, but the underlying causes are unclear. Methods: The current study with younger and middle-aged to older adults investigated factors that could explain the age-related reduction in AI speech identification. Experiment 1 investigated whether high-frequency information in speech—to which middle-aged to older adults often have less access due sensitivity loss at high frequencies—contributes to age-group differences. Experiment 2 investigated whether an age-related reduction in the ability to process prosodic information in speech predicts the reduction in AI speech identification. Results: Results for Experiment 1 show that middle-aged to older adults are less able to identify AI speech for both full-bandwidth speech and speech for which information above 4 kHz is removed, making the contribution of high-frequency hearing loss unlikely. Experiment 2 shows that the ability to identify AI speech is greater in individuals who also show a greater ability to identify emotions from prosodic speech information, after accounting for hearing function and self-rated experience with voice-AI systems. Conclusions: The current results suggest that the ability to identify AI speech is related to the accurate processing of prosodic information.https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4349/15/1/14agingtext-to-speech synthesisartificial intelligenceprosodyhearing loss |
| spellingShingle | Björn Herrmann Mo Eric Cui Impaired Prosodic Processing but Not Hearing Function Is Associated with an Age-Related Reduction in AI Speech Recognition Audiology Research aging text-to-speech synthesis artificial intelligence prosody hearing loss |
| title | Impaired Prosodic Processing but Not Hearing Function Is Associated with an Age-Related Reduction in AI Speech Recognition |
| title_full | Impaired Prosodic Processing but Not Hearing Function Is Associated with an Age-Related Reduction in AI Speech Recognition |
| title_fullStr | Impaired Prosodic Processing but Not Hearing Function Is Associated with an Age-Related Reduction in AI Speech Recognition |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impaired Prosodic Processing but Not Hearing Function Is Associated with an Age-Related Reduction in AI Speech Recognition |
| title_short | Impaired Prosodic Processing but Not Hearing Function Is Associated with an Age-Related Reduction in AI Speech Recognition |
| title_sort | impaired prosodic processing but not hearing function is associated with an age related reduction in ai speech recognition |
| topic | aging text-to-speech synthesis artificial intelligence prosody hearing loss |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4349/15/1/14 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bjornherrmann impairedprosodicprocessingbutnothearingfunctionisassociatedwithanagerelatedreductioninaispeechrecognition AT moericcui impairedprosodicprocessingbutnothearingfunctionisassociatedwithanagerelatedreductioninaispeechrecognition |