Voice Assistants and Employment: How Speech Processing is Changing the Job Market
Webinar Roundtable
September 2024
A video of this webinar appears below:
This webinar explored the transformative impact of voice assistants and speech recognition technologies on the job market.
We discussed how these technologies are reshaping various industries, particularly customer service and technical support, creating new job opportunities, and altering existing roles.
The session covered the skills required for these new job roles and strategies for workforce adaptation.
We also explored whether industry and government are prepared for the profound impact generative AI will have on employment.
Chair
Dr. Agha Usama Hasan
Parliamentary Chief of Staff for Birmingham, former Perry Barr MP, Associate Editor for the Macrothink Institute USA
Dr Agha Usama Hasan is an experienced professional in parliamentary operations, policy development, and academic research. He has been working as the Parliamentary Chief of Staff for Birmingham, former Perry Barr MP, where he excels in budget management, administrative leadership, team management, and strategic communication. Additionally, he serves as an Associate Editor for the Macrothink Institute USA journal, overseeing scholarly articles in Business Management and Strategy.
Dr Hasan holds a PhD in Climate Change and Built Environment from the University of West London and an MSc in Sustainable Energy with Distinction from Queen Mary University of London. His research includes six international peer-reviewed publications on topics such as building performance and modern construction techniques.
He is a member of several professional associations, including The Members and Peers Staff Association (MAPSA), The Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET), The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and Scientists for Labour (SFL) and International Building Performance Simulation Association (MIBPSA).
Expert Panellists
Julie Wall, Professor of AI and Advanced Computing at the University of West London
IORMA Advisory Board
Julie has expertise in designing intelligent systems, focusing on speech and language applications for both academic and industrial environments. Her research has focused on advanced natural language processing technologies and biologically inspired audio systems, resulting in over 50 scholarly publications, patents in the UK and US, and substantial research funding achievements. A committed member of the British Standards Institution (BSI) and several professional societies, Julie actively contributes to setting standards in AI, demonstrating a profound commitment to advancing the field and its applications.
Nigel Cannings, CEO, Intelligent Voice
Intelligent Voice, a global leader in the development of proactive compliance and eDiscovery technology solutions for voice, video and other media. He is also the CEO of MeetMyna, a recording software that instantly turns virtual meetings into actually useful records of exactly what was said and done.
Intelligent Voice uses speech recognition technology to capture calls, convert them into text and then automatically send the transcript (along with the original voice file) to the user’s inbox, as well as provide complex analytic capabilities.
Prior to entering the programming world, he worked in the Legal industry as a lawyer. In 2003, he decided to change paths and invest in small software companies. He was the first to market (first ever GPU-accelerated speech recognition in 2014). He is also an experienced speaker.
Nigel studied Law politics at Keele University. He is also a self-taught technologist, having started programming almost 45 years ago. Additionally, he is an expert in natural language processing and contextualization and team Collaboration.
Tom Hadley
Speaker, Trainer, Content Generator
Tom Hadley is a future of work activist who uses his projects with United Nations agencies and business leaders across the globe to curate good practice ‘treasure troves’ and to hone-in on what big picture ‘mega-trends’ mean in practice for individuals and organisations.
Tom has been a regular media spokesperson and keynote speaker and is the author of over 50 research reports and White Papers on youth employment, skills and the shape-shifting world of work. As Campaigns Director for one of the UK’s leading business organisations, he established the Future of Jobs Observatory and sat on over a dozen government forums as well as on the board of the World Employment Confederation. In addition to delivery bespoke consultancy and training services, Tom is currently a board member of Youth Employment UK and a Trustee of the Young Epilepsy charity.
On the extracurricular front, Tom is a qualified England Rugby Coach and an unrepentant aficionado of 1980s French popular music.
Sandy Tung, Principal Policy Officer, Technology & Innovation, Greater London Authority (GLA)
Sandy is a specialist in smart, sustainable, and resilient cities. She is the technology and innovation policy lead at City Hall, looking at the role of tech and innovation in growing London’s economy. She runs Challenge LDN, the Mayor’s open innovation programme that invites a diverse cohort of innovators to co-design solutions that tackle the capital’s most pressing problems. This year’s cohort supports No Wrong Door, an initiative that aims to address systemic challenges in the skills and employment ecosystem to support Londoners into good work.
Dr Ori Igwe, Senior Lecturer in Law, School of Law, University of West London
Ori is an experienced lecturer and specialist in cyber crime, criminal justice and law enforcement. She has extensive experience in university education having taught cyber crime, criminal law, constitutional law, the English legal system and law of evidence. She has many years experience of undertaking research and working as a criminal justice official. Ori is a motivated academic driven by zeal to inspire students and encourage individual growth. She has experience of delivering lectures to national and international audiences consisting of legal academics, police officers, prosecutors, criminal justice officials and computer analysts.