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Google Research releases WAXAL dataset for African language speech technology

By PulseAugur Editorial · [2 sources] ·

Google Research has released WAXAL, a large-scale, open-access dataset designed to advance speech technology for 27 African languages. The resource includes approximately 1,846 hours of transcribed spontaneous speech for automatic speech recognition and over 565 hours of high-fidelity recordings for text-to-speech synthesis. This initiative aims to bridge the digital divide by empowering the African AI ecosystem to develop inclusive voice-enabled technologies that reflect the continent's linguistic diversity. AI

RANK_REASON Release of a large-scale, open-access dataset for African languages by Google Research.

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AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 2 sources. How we write summaries →

Google Research releases WAXAL dataset for African language speech technology

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COVERAGE [2]

  1. Google AI / Research TIER_1 English(EN) ·

    WAXAL: A large-scale open resource for African language speech technology

    Natural Language Processing

  2. Practical AI TIER_1 English(EN) · Practical AI LLC ·

    🌍 AI in Africa - Voice & language tools

    <p>In the third of the “AI in Africa” spotlight episodes, we welcome Kathleen Siminyu, who is building Kiswahili voice tools at Mozilla. We had a great discussion with Kathleen about creating more diverse voice and language datasets, involving local language communities in NLP wo…

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