Disrupting Voice Technology Status Quo through Kiswahili Hackathons

Speech recognition products have a language problem.

Although several voice-activated chatbots and assistants fluently speak English and other European languages, there are fewer alternatives for African languages and other low-resourced languages.

Mozilla’s Common Voice Kiswahili team has been organizing a four-part hackathon series to increase the number of voice technologists across East Africa by equipping technical communities with the skills to train voice technology.

For voice technology to make a significant step from novelty to everyday utility, it needs to …