Columnist: Computer voice-recognition technology currently cannot distinguish between homophones such as "their" and "there." As a consequence, until voice-recognition technology is improved to recognize and utilize grammatical and semantic relations among words, voice-recognition programs will not accurately translate a computer user's spoken words into written text.
The author concludes that if voice-recognition technology can’t recognize/use grammatical and semantic relations among words, then voice-recognition programs won’t accurately translate a computer user’s spoken words into written text.
Why does the author believe this?
Because voice-recognition technology currently can’t distinguish between homophones such as “their” and “there.”
We currently know the following from the premise:
If voice-recognition technology can’t distinguish between homophones such as “their” and “there” → voice-recognition programs won’t accurately translate a user’s spoken words into written text
That relationship isn’t explicitly stated, but it’s conceptually something that’s true. If voice-recognition tech can’t tell the difference between two words that sound exactly the same, then it’s not going to be able to translate those words accurately — there will be times when it translates “their” as “there” and vice versa.
Based on that premise, the author concludes the following:
If voice-recognition can’t recognize/use grammatical and semantic relations among words → voice-recognition programs won’t accurately translate a user’s spoken words into written text
The missing link to connect the premise to the conclusion is the following:
If voice-recognition tech can’t recognize/use grammatical and semantic relations → it can’t distinguish between homophones
Another way to state that relationship: in order to distinguish between homophones, voice-recognition tech must be able to recognize/use grammatical and semantic relationships.
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