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March 7, 2025

Gifty Ayoka, executive director of Talking Tipps Africa, a nongovernmental organization, was among the guest speakers at the recently conducted 2nd International Conference on Language Technologies organized by UNESCO at Paris. Organized between February 24 and February 26, the conference had been organized on the occasion of the International Mother Language Day.

In her role as Community Engagement Lead at the Centre for Digital Language Inclusion (CDL), Ms. Ayoka talked about a project that is being undertaken in collaboration with the University of Ghana and Talking Tipps Africa. The project focuses on developing Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) models in Ghana to empower the speech-impaired by making life-altering digital assistive technologies accessible.

Under these efforts, CDL and its partners are currently collecting non-standard speech data in Ghanaian languages. This study is founded on Google’s non-standard speech breakthroughs and is supported by UK aid funding. CDL is also using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop inclusive communication tools, ensuring that the most needy are not left behind. The initiative also includes training programs for organizations and individuals to be able to use these innovative solutions effectively.

Understanding Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) is changing the way people with non-standard speech communicate. The increasing popularity of mobile devices, combined with free-use applications, is opening up ASR to be more accessible, user-friendly, and less stigmatized for people who have speech difficulties.

The Centre for Digital Language Inclusion (CDLI) is at the forefront of developing inclusive ASR solutions that provide increased accessibility to the non-standard speaker population worldwide.

About the Conference

The 2nd International Conference on Language Technologies for All (LT4All 2025) was entitled “Advancing Humanism through Language Technologies” and aimed to improve the contribution of language technologies to community empowerment. The conference addressed the intersection of technology, language, and society from various perspectives, including scientific, technical, cultural, linguistic, economic, political, and ethical ones.

Organized by ELRA and SIGUL (ELRA/ISCA Special Interest Group on Under-resourced Languages) and in partnership with UNESCO, the conference brought together scientists, technology suppliers, and linguistic community representatives to discuss new solutions for language inclusion.

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