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Multimodal AI

Keyword spotting

Listening for a particular word or phrase, such as a device's wake-up command.

Example

A device listens for its activation phrase.

Why people use it

It lets a device notice a particular spoken phrase without understanding every sentence.

What you'll hear

“Listen for the wake-up phrase.”

What this means for you

Review false activations and missed detections in realistic noise conditions.

Can you control it?

Sometimes

Sometimes. Your choices depend on the tool and your access. The settings available to an everyday user may differ from those available to the people running it.

Common questions

Does keyword spotting transcribe the whole conversation?
Not necessarily. It may only detect selected trigger words.
Can a television activate it?
Yes. Recorded speech can resemble the phrase the device is listening for.
Does detecting the phrase prove who said it?
No. Phrase detection and speaker identification are separate tasks.

Related terms

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