Voices from Academia Developing Artificial Intelligence Applications for Human Conversation: Perspectives, Tools, Exploratory Analyses

This paper evaluates the performance of conversational artificial intelligence (CAI)-enhanced speech-generating devices (SGDs) through the lens of social interaction. It involves a review of conversational principles, the dynamics of augmented speaker interaction, and the critical components and underlying processes of CAI in SGDs. Several evaluation tools are proposed to assess interaction performance in the context of CAI; this assessment is then applied to evaluate a prototype. Additionally, the paper explores the feasibility of integrating existing CAI technologies into SGDs, offering insights into how these technologies can be improved to enhance communication for users relying on augmented communication methods for conversation purposes.